Platinum bar.
Photo by: Bloomberg
JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – More than a million platinum debentures were delisted at the start of JSE business on Wednesday, NewGold stated in a stock exchange news service (SENS) announcement.
The delisting of 1 400 000 NewGold platinum debentures, or the NewPlat exchange traded funds (ETFs), had left 82 100 000 of the units in issue, the SENS notice added.
The NewGold’s NewPlat platinum ETFs had a market capitalisation of R11.7-billion at the close of JSE business on Tuesday, when the closing price was R128.63. Annualised return has been -0.45%.
The debentures are backed by physical platinum bullion, with each debenture worth about one hundredth of a fine troy ounce of platinum bullion, which is held on behalf of investors.
The NewPlat ETF offers the opportunity to invest in platinum bullion as it tracks the rand price of platinum.
Last year, three of sponsor Absa Corporate and Investment Bank’s metal ETFs – NewGold, NewPlat and NewPalladium – began trading on South Africa’s A2X exchange, in addition to their listings on the JSE and the Namibian Stock Exchange.
A2X CEO Kevin Brady commented in a statement at the time that the Absa metal ETFs were the leaders in their field with almost R25-billion in assets under management.
“ETFs are experiencing significant growth, owing to their low cost,” Brady was quoted by Mining Weekly as saying.