Implats posts a 70c per share interim loss

SOUTH African platinum producer Impala Platinum (Implats) posted an interim loss yesterday, largely because the prior period included a tax credit due to a writeoff of an amount owed by a debtor.

The company said its diluted headline earnings per share for the six months ending December 31, 2016, fell to a loss of 70 cents, in line with what the company had previously flagged to the market, from a profit of 53c in the previous period.

“The major reason for the decline in headline earnings was a tax credit in the comparable period due to a previously written-off amount owed by a debtor,” Implats said.

The company said revenue had increased to R18.2 billion, following a positive dollar metal price variance and a positive exchange rate variance due to the average rand-dollar exchange rate being approximately 4.5 percent weaker than the previous period.

It said it was in talks with the government in Harare about its black ownership drive and the company’s Zimbabwe unit, Zimplats.

Implats received a notice in January that Zimbabwe’s government wanted to seize 27 948 hectares of mining ground at its operations located south-west of Harare.