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Cape Town - Mineral Resources Minister Ngoako Ramatlhodi did not see any "serious repercussions" if Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) [JSE:AMS] sold some of its assets.
"Obviously, they are not closing down the shafts, they are selling and they are selling going concerns," he told reporters in parliament on Tuesday.
"It is a running entity, a running entity. So I don't see much (sic) serious repercussions," said Ramatlhodi, after being asked if he was concerned about rumours that Amplats was selling its assets.
The platinum producer was one of the companies affected by the five-month strike in the sector this year.
Amplats would not comment.
"Anglo American Platinum is currently in a closed period and we will be updating the market when we release our interim results on Monday 21 July," spokesperson Mpumi Sithole said in an email to Sapa.
Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (Amcu) members at Amplats, Lonmin and Impala Platinum went on strike on January 23 demanding a basic monthly salary of R12 500. They agreed on a three-year wage deal on June 24.
In terms of the agreement, the salary of the lowest paid worker would increase by R1 000 in the first two years and R950 in the third year.
The strike cost the companies revenue of around R24bn, and workers earnings of about R10.7bn.
Amplats said it expected its headline earnings per share (Heps) and basic earnings per share (EPS) to decrease due to the strike.
The company was finalising its results for the six months ending June 30, it said in an earlier statement.
Heps for the period was expected to decrease to between 20 cents and 80c from 514c reported for the six months ended June 30, 2013.
Basic EPS for the period was expected to decrease to between 130c and 180c, from 468c for the comparative previous period.
"The decrease in Heps and EPS is primarily due to the impact of the five-month industrial action which impacted on operational performance," Amplats said.
