AFRICAN Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a diversified mining company, reported on Monday a sharp drop in interim profit, prompting it to consider curtailing or exiting operations that are not profitable.ARM reported a 56% fall in headline earnings for the six months to end-December. Headline earnings fell to R1.026bn, while basic earnings fell to R801m from R1.7bn.Basic earnings were hit by exceptional items of R225m, which included a R222m mark-to-market loss on its 14.6% stake in loss-making Harmony Gold.ARM will shut its manganese alloy smelter at Machadodorp in April.ARM has agreed to sell its 50% stake in the Dwarsrivier chrome mine to JSE-listed Assore, its partner in manganese and iron ore operations.As part of a wide-ranging review of its operations to rein in costs and improve productivity across its suite of assets, ARM said it was “considering the curtailment or exit from operations which are not profitable”.“The current business environment is expected to remain challenging for ...
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