WEDNESDAY, 12.15PM:
JOHANNESBURG Consolidated Investments’ embattled gold division on Tuesday announced a surprise increase in profits in the final quarter of last year. Gold division head Brett Kebble said the gold team “will not lie down and die”, and added that JCI and its gold division will remain intact.
The gold division increased profits last quarter to R186-million from the previous quarter’s R184,8-million. Profit after tax rose significantly from R2,26-million to R131,86-million, while earnings per shared climbed from 0,4c to 25,6c.
“The significant improvement last quarter has been sustained,” said Kebble, adding that Western Areas “had a very difficult quarter due to the major changes that adversely affected profitability, but were needed to return the mine to profitability.”
JCI has rarely been out of the headlines since chairman Mzi Khumalo announced late last year that he was closing the gold division and selling JCI’s prime assets, Western Areas and HJ Joel gold mines to Anglo American in return for its controlling stake in British multinational Lonrho, described by one analyst as “dead as a dodo”.
If the sale goes ahead all that will remain in JCI’s gold division will be Randfontein Estates and Lindum Reefs. Plans went ahead earlier this week to fold Lindum Reefs into Randfontein in order to merge the two into a separate gold company, headed by Kebble.
Khumalo is to face an annual general meeting next week at which he may be forced to resign as head of the company.