JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – JSE-listed Northam Platinum will report a loss a share of between 264.06c and 265.54c for the financial year ended June 30, as a result of certain one-off costs related to its R6.6-billion black economic-empowerment (BEE) deal.

The company had posted earnings a share of 2.4c in the 2014 financial year.

Similarly, the miner expected to report a headline loss a share of between 202.7c and 203.1c for the year under review, compared with headline earnings a share of 2.2c the year before.

Northam on Monday described the R6.6-billion BEE deal, which raised its empowerment level to 35.4%, as the single most important development for the company during the financial year.

The deal saw special purpose vehicle, Zambezi Platinum, which was formed to house the company’s historically disadvantaged South African shareholder base, list on the JSE in May.

“As is customary with transactions of this nature, certain one-off charges were incurred during the year, including a share-based payment charge in terms of International Financial Reporting Standards.

“In combination, these expenses have had an impact on the income statement, resulting in the net loss for the period under review,” Northam said.

It stressed that the anticipated loss was not a reflection of the performance of the group’s operating assets, all of which performed satisfactorily during the year.

The Booysendal mine was continuing to ramp up to full production and contributed positively to the group’s results for the year.

The BEE Transaction also included a R400-million one-off lock-in and restraint payment for Northam’s BEE partners, represented by Zambezi Platinum, in respect of the ten-year BEE period.

Other sundry nonrecurring BEE transaction implementation costs and impairments of noncore assets would also be accounted for in the group’s results for the financial year. 

As part of the BEE transaction, Northam issued 112-million additional shares, resulting in 509-million shares in issue at end-June. Of these shares, 159-million were treasury shares, which were not accounted for in the loss and headline loss per share calculation. 

The company’s results would be released on August 20.