Anglo American Platinum H1 shines on higher prices

Anglo American Platinum reported a sharp rise in first-half earnings on the back of soaring commodity prices.

The precious metals miner, majority owned by Anglo American, said headline earnings of 46.4 billion rand (£2.26bn) in the six months to June 30, up from ZAR 6.9bn a year ago.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased to a record ZAR 63.3bn from ZAR 13.1bn as the dollar-denominated basket price per ounce sold jumped 47% year-on-year, and production rose 28%.

The company declared a base and special dividend amounting to ZAR175 per share.

Total platinum group metal (PGM) production from own mines increased by 29% year-on-year to 1.404m. All operations recorded higher production in the first half of 2021 compared with the previous corresponding period which was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated government-imposed lockdowns.

Production levels during the period under review were constant with those achieved in the first half of 2019 before the pandemic struck, Anglo said.

PGM production guidance (metal-in-concentrate) was tightened to between 4.2 - 4.4m PGM ounces from 4.2 - 4.6m ounces due to lower third-party receipts and the continuing impact of Covid-19 infection rates on production.