Sibanye-Stillwater’s shares fell 4% on Wednesday after it warned its annual profit plunged by as much as 91% last year, mainly due to a sharp decline in platinum group metal (PGM) prices.
In its first forecast on the year ended December 31, the diversified miner said it expected to post headline earnings per share, the most common profit measure in South Africa, of between R0.60 and R0.66, down from R6.52 in 2022.
Sibanye and peers including Anglo American Platinum and Impala Platinum saw a sharp fall in earnings in 2023, mainly due to a decline in the prices of palladium and rhodium.
Sibanye, which has gold operations in South Africa and has diversified into clean energy minerals such as lithium, nickel and zinc, has restructured its PGM operations in the US and South Africa to keep a lid on costs in the low-price environment.
The restructuring could result in the loss of 4 095 jobs in Sibanye’s South African PGM operations and 300 more in the US.
On Monday, Anglo American Platinum announced plans to cut 3 700 jobs as it fights to contain costs.
Sibanye said it planned to further “reposition” its US PGM operations and the Sandouville nickel refinery in France to stem losses.
The miner recognised impairments of R47.45 billion due to the impact of weakening metal prices and operational challenges at its US PGM and South African gold operations, as well as the Sandouville refinery.
Sibanye is scheduled to release its annual results on March 5.
REUTERS