Amplats sees profit rising at least 20%

Johannesburg - Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS], the world’s largest producer of the precious metal, said first-half profit will climb at least 20% after it recovered from a five-month strike a year earlier.

“The increase in headline earnings and basic earnings is primarily due to the improvement in operational performance following the protected industrial action in the comparative period,” the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement on Monday. It can’t yet provide a more specific range, it said.

The strike at the operations of the world’s three biggest platinum producers from January to June last year shut operations, crippling output.