Anglo Platinum’s Cash Pile Doubles as Higher Prices, Weaker Rand Boost Profit

(Bloomberg) -- Anglo American Platinum Ltd.’s net cash more than doubled in the six months through June, as the company benefited from a rally in some of its key metals and a weaker rand.

• Net cash at the end of June was 6 billion rand ($430 million), compared with 2.9 billion rand at the end of December. Basic earnings surged to 7.3 billion rand in the six months, from 2.2 billion rand a year earlier.

Key Insights

• Amplats had already indicated it expected basic earnings to more than triple, buoyed by a rally in palladium and rhodium prices and a weaker rand.
• As the cash pile grows, there didn’t appear to be any fresh guidance on what Amplats plans to do with the money. The company maintained its dividend payout at 40% of so-called headline earnings, equating to 3 billion rand, or 11 rand per share.
• The bumper profit comes as Amplats and other producers are negotiating new wage agreements with labor organizations including the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. The union has said that higher metals prices justify its demands.

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• Statement here
• Key figures here

Read More

• Amplats Now Sees Profit More Than Tripling on Prices, Stocks
• Platinum Giants Eye Sibanye’s Gold Deal as Wage Yardstick
• Anglo Platinum Sees Profit Jumping Again on Price Rally

To contact the reporter on this story: Felix Njini in Johannesburg at fnjini@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Thomasson at lthomasson@bloomberg.net, Liezel Hill, Jacqueline Mackenzie

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