Diversified miner African Rainbow Minerals (ARM) expects its headline earnings a share for the six months ended December 31, to increase by between 8% and 15% to between R11 and R11.80, compared with the R10.23 reported for the first half of the prior financial year.
This positive impact is as a result of an increase in the average realised dollars prices for most of the commodities that ARM produces, as well as a weaker average rand/dollar exchange rate.
Basic earnings for the six-month period were, however, negatively impacted on by an attributable impairment of the Nkomati mine of R892-million after tax, and are expected to reduce by between 24% and 30% to between R6.50 and R7 a share.
Basic earnings a share for the prior comparable period were R9.22.
ARM’s interim financial results will be released on March 1.