COMPANY COMMENT: New broom in place to sweep Implats decks
CEO Nico Muller has a lot to prove in taking the role at a time when two-thirds of SA’s platinum mines are unprofitable
If ever there was a time for world number two platinum miner Impala Platinum (Implats) to make the changes it so desperately needs at its mines around Rustenburg, it is now, under the new leadership brought by CEO Nico Muller.Through no fault of their own — or even their customers — banks are expected to experience an increase in nonperforming loans as a percentage of loans by the end of 2018. Ratings agency Moody’s, in explaining its decision to keep its negative outlook on SA’s banking system this week, said this ratio would rise to 3.5% of total loans, from 2.9% in December 2016. This will reverse an improvement between 2015 and 2016, when soured loans declined 5.2%. The reversal is expected to begin in 2017, with early signs observed in May, when the sector reported an increase in nonperforming loans between December and May, as customers came under pressure from the recession in the first quarter. The issue isn’t that customers are taking on loans they aren’t able to repay — cr...
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