Impala Platinum (Implats) reported a 22% fall in full-year profit on Thursday, hit by slack demand for the precious metal, but forecast a slow recovery this year.
Implats, the world’s second largest platinum producer, said headline earnings per share totalled 786 cents, compared with 1 001 cents in the previous year .
Headline earnings are the main gauge of earnings in South Africa and strip out certain one-time items.
Implats said the unit cost per platinum ounce produced in concentrate declined by 4% to R8 463 per platinum ounce.
Revenue fell by 3% to R25,4-billion.
Implats, which mines in South Africa and Zimbabwe, said refined platinum production fell by 8% to 871 000 ounces compared with last year’s output.
The company said in a statement it expects to benefit for medium- and long-term demand for platinum group metals.
The global economic crisis has hurt South Africa’s platinum miners, who produce four-fifths of the world’s supply of the metal.
Platinum is used in catalytic converters that cut pollutants from car exhausts, and its price fell sharply when demand for vehicles plunged.
Implats declared a final dividend of 390 cents — Reuters