Following the release of a trading statement earlier this month, Impala Platinum (Implats) on Monday said that it “now has reasonable certainty” that its headline earnings and headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six-month period ended December 31, 2018, are likely to be between R2.21-billion and R2.24-billion and between 308c and 312c a share.
On February 4, Implats forecast that both headline earnings and basic earnings were expected to be at least R2.1-billion for the period, while HEPS and basic earnings per share (EPS) for the period would be at least 292c a share.
Basic earnings and EPS are expected to be between R2.29-billion and R2.32-billion and between 319c and 323c a share, respectively, compared to a basic loss and a basic loss a share of R163-million and 23c, respectively, for the comparative period, respectively.
As indicated in the trading statement issued earlier this month, the improvement in safety and operational performances, particularly at the Impala Rustenburg operations, higher sales volumes and higher rand platinum group metals basket prices were the major reasons for the increase in earnings.
Implats will release results for the half-year on February 28.