Johannesburg - Mining group African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) [JSE:ARI] said on Monday its first-half headline earnings fell by more than 50% due to lower prices for its commodities such as iron ore and platinum.
The diversified company said in a statement that headline earnings per share fell 56% to 473 cents a share from 1 084c in the previous year.
ARM said the softer dollar price was offset by a weaker rand compared to the greenback, which softened by 9.5% in the period. Mining companies sell their commodities in dollars while paying most costs in rand.