Impala Platinum sees lower full-year earnings

Johannesburg - Impala Platinum [JSE:IMP] on Monday flagged lower full-year earnings, mainly due to efforts to ramp up output at its South African mines following a five-month strike and production problems at its mine in Zimbabwe.

The world's second-largest producer of the white metal said headline earnings per share were expected to fall by between 45% and 62% to between 33 cents and 47c.

Implats's Zimbabwean unit suffered an underground collapse at its Bihma mine and a breakdown at its furnace in the period, which led to a dip in production.

The company said it would swing to a basic loss per share of up to 607c, from earnings of 41c last year, due to the Bihma mine problems, along with impairments to exploration, evaluation and mining assets.

Rising costs, labour unrest and softer metal prices have forced platinum firms to restructure assets and delay capital projects.