Northam Platinum revenue surges 74% on metals costs

South African miner Northam Platinum on Friday reported a surge in mid-year revenue pushed by larger metals costs and mentioned it will speed up its capital expenditure within the second half.

Excessive costs for metals together with platinum, palladium and rhodium helped increase PGM (platinum group metals) miners’ earnings and climate the affect of the coronavirus disaster.

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The platinum producer reported a 74% bounce in normalised headline earnings per shares for the six months ended December 31 of 641.5 cents, up from 369.6 cents a 12 months earlier.

Northam mentioned the greenback basket worth of the principle minerals it mines surged by practically 50%, whereas a weaker native forex decreased manufacturing prices.

Manufacturing rose 15% to 352,741 ounces, whereas gross sales volumes slipped 4.4% to 315,320 ounces on account of pandemic-related disruptions.

Northam mentioned decrease steel volumes had been despatched to its refinery in Germany on account of a lower in output and logistical hurdles within the fourth quarter.

The corporate mentioned it had reinstated the entire capital initiatives it had briefly suspended because of the pandemic and deliberate to speed up capex within the second half of the 12 months with a 2021 forecast of R3 billion.

Capital expenditure through the reported interval fell to R1.3 billion from R1.4 billion a 12 months earlier.

“The group’s sturdy monetary place, prudent monetary controls and the profitable execution of our growth technique will place Northam favourably in persevering with to make the most of improved market circumstances,” the miner mentioned.

Northam didn’t declare a dividend, upholding its technique of buying desire shares in its Zambezi Platinum unit in its place technique to return worth to shareholders.

The corporate now holds 87.5% of Zambezi’s desire shares.

Shares in Northam had been down 2.29%, lagging a 1.78% fall within the sector by 0705 GMT.