JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Sibanye Gold expects a surge in earnings for the first half of 2016 on the back of a 31% higher average rand gold price.
The company on Wednesday said in a trading update that headline earnings per share (HEPS) for the six months ended June 30 were likely to be between 484% and 611% higher than the 19c apiece achieved in the prior corresponding period.
Earnings per share (EPS) are expected to be between 70% and 110% more than the 20c posted in the half-year to June 2015, with an R820-million impairment incurred on the value of the Cooke 4 mining assets.
The 120% increase in Sibanye’s share price also had a substantial impact on earnings, while the revaluing of financial instruments at higher share prices resulted in a fair value loss of R1.1-billion, which negatively impacted HEPS and EPS but was excluded from normalised earnings.
Normalised EPS are expected to be between 678% and 848% higher than the 27c reported in the comparative period last year.
Meanwhile, Sibanye reported that gold production for the six months under review reached 746 800 oz, up from 713 000 oz in the first half of last year.
All-in sustaining costs came in lower during the six months to June 30, at $920/oz, compared with the $1 137/oz reported in the six months to June 2015.
All-in costs reduced from $1 155/oz in the six months to June 2015 to $948/oz in the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, platinum group metals (PGM) production for the six months to June 30 is forecast at 178 000 oz, with Kroondal and Mimosa mines forecast to deliver all-time record PGM production.
Sibanye Platinum division’s cash costs for the Kroondal mine are expected to be $615/oz, with R623/t unit costs and cash costs plus capital expenditure (capex) of $696/oz.
Further, the cash costs for Mimosa will be $763/oz, with unit costs of $69/t and cash costs plus capex of $874/oz.