JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Coal producer Keaton Energy expects headline earnings a share for the six months ended September 30 to drop by between 27% and 32% from the prior quarter’s 19.4c to between 13.2c and 14.2c apiece.
The company added in a trading statement on Friday that basic earnings a share for the half-year would likely also decrease by between 31% and 37% to between 12.3c and 13.3c.
“The decrease in earnings is attributable to a higher number of shares in issue for the period, following the issue of 32.6-million new shares in February, as well as increased finance costs, following the drawdown of the Investec finance facility, the benefit of which will flow only once production starts at the Moabsvelden mine, in Mpumalanga,” stated the company.