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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s Impala Platinum (Implats) on Thursday posted a four-fold increase in headline earnings and declared a bumper interim dividend, as higher metals prices and a weaker rand exchange rate boosted its profit.
The platinum miner reported headline earnings per share (HEPS) of 1855 cents for the six months ended on Dec. 31, compared with 436 cents per share last year.
High prices for metals extracted by Implats, including platinum, palladium and rhodium, boosted profit and helped the South African company weather the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Revenue in the reported period surged 107% to 58.12 billion rand ($4.02 billion) while free cash flow soared 304% to 20.1 billion rand.
The platinum miner said it had successfully navigated the impact of the pandemic and was well-positioned to take advantage of stronger metals prices.
“The focus is on maintaining operational momentum, leveraging the windfall on pricing to reward investors and secure future growth and sustainability for the business,” said Chief Executive Officer Nico Muller.
The precious metals miner declared an interim dividend of 10 rand ($0.69) per share, compared with 1.25 rand in the year-ago period.
Implats delivered a 29% increase in refined PGM (platinum group metals) output to 1.69 million ounces, boosted by improved processing availability and the inclusion of an entire six months of production from its Impala Canada operations, which was acquired at the end of 2019.
($1 = 14.4750 rand)
