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Johannesburg - Anglo American Platinum [JSE:AMS] said it will report a bigger-than-expected loss after the world’s largest producer of the metal reported impairments and write-offs amounting to R14bn ($853m).
The basic loss for 2015 will probably be R12.1bn to R12.2bn, compared with earnings of R624m a year earlier, the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement Monday. The bulk of the loss is due to the carrying value of Amplats’ assets, it said.
Post-tax restructuring costs of R850m and implementing plans that led to a reduction in employees and contractors also contributed to the decline, Amplats said.
Platinum, used in automobiles’ catalytic converters to reduce emissions, has plunged 31% since the beginning of 2015 as part of the global rout in commodities. To cope with the downturn, investors have pumped R4bn into Impala Platinum Holdings, the world’s second-biggest producer, and about $400m into Lonmin, the third-largest.
Amplats, 77% owned by Anglo American Plc, is instead selling assets to cope with the downturn. It agreed to sell three Rustenburg mines to Sibanye Gold for at least R4.5bn last year to focus on more mechanised operations.
Headline earnings will drop to a range of R0.25 to R0.55 a share from R3.01 a year earlier, Amplats said. Without one-time items such as writing off loans to Atlatsa Resources and an increase in inventories, headline earnings in the year ended 2015 would have improved to R4.12 a share, the company said.
