JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – The headline earnings of black-controlled JSE-listed African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) increased 10% to R4.11-billion for the year ended June 30, the diversified mining company reported on Thursday.

This increase was primarily owing to a significant improvement in ARM Platinum and ARM Ferrous, the company’s iron-ore and manganese arm – which has a 50% stake in mining company Assmang, with Assore holding the balance.

ARM Platinum’s contribution to the headline earnings was up by 68% to R883-million owing to excellent performance from the Nkomati and Two Rivers mines, in Mpumalanga, which increased headline earnings by 91% and 88%, respectively, as a result of improved sales volumes and a weaker rand:dollar exchange.

ARM Ferrous contributed R3.74-billion to the company’s headline earnings in the 2014 financial year, an increase of 17% from the R3.19-billion recorded in the previous year. This was attributed to higher dollar prices for the business’s lumpy iron-ore and high-grade manganese ore.

Speaking at the company’s provisional results presentation on Thursday, ARM executive chairperson Patrice Motsepe said headline earnings a share were R19, up on the R17.35 a share in the previous year.

ARM declared a record annual dividend in the 2014 financial year of R6 a share, up from the dividend of R5.10 a share in the previous year.

The company’s basic earnings of R3.3-billion, while up from the R1.6-billion in the previous year, were negatively impacted by exceptional items of R819-million, of which R510-million came from a marked-to-market loss on its investment in gold miner Harmony Gold, which reported a net loss of R1.27-billion for the 2014 financial year.

Increased sales volumes were achieved in nickel, platinum-group metals, manganese alloy, Eskom coal, export coal from the Goedgevonden mine, chrome concentrate from the Nkomati mine and copper. The value of sales for the year was up by 36.3% to R10-billion, compared with R7.34-billion in the 2013 financial year.

In light of several challenges in the mining industry during 2014, Motsepe told delegates at Thursday’s presentation that ARM’s results highlighted the benefit of being such a diverse company, “and we will, therefore, continue to focus on our diversification strategy”, he said.

Motsepe added that ARM would continue to look for value-adding opportunities that would ensure the company’s future growth and improve its competitiveness.