Implats falls into loss as costs outpace rising output and prices
Impala Platinum, the world’s second-largest producer of the metal, reported an interim loss, withheld its interim dividend payment and lowered its full-year production and refined metal forecasts. Implats reported a R328m loss for the six months to end-December compared with a profit of R218m a year earlier. This was despite revenue for the year increasing by 8% to R18.2bn on improved metal prices and higher production. The cost of sales was, however, higher, rising to R18.5bn from R16.8bn the year before. The reason for the increase in costs stemmed from operating costs rising by 5% to R11.5bn, which was below mining inflation of 5.8% at its South African and Zimbabwean mines combined. Implats paid R717m for metal purchased by its refining division. "Given the severe impact of safety stoppages at Impala Rustenburg and the community disruptions at Marula in the first half of the financial year, the full-year production estimates for these operations have been revised to 650,000 refi...
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