JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The world’s second-largest platinum-miner, Impala Platinum (Implats), said on Monday that its half-year headline earnings a share and its basic earnings a share would fall by between 75% and 77%.

Headline earnings a share and earnings a share were expected to be between 200c and 220c a share, compared with the headline earnings a share of 876c a share and earnings a share of 877c a share recorded in the six months ended December 2008.

Implats said in a statement that the expected decrease in earnings was primarily owing to the significant decrease in relative metal prices.

Further, as a result of the 19% increase in the Implats share price from the end of June 2009, to the end of December 2009, the share based payment charge amounted to R560-million in the current period, compared with a credit in the prior period of R976-million.

Implats would release its interim results on February 18.

In January, the world’ number one platinum miner, Anglo Platinum, said that its earnings for the year ended December would fall by between 75% and 85%. Headline earrings could fall by between 89% and 99%.

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