Tharisa PLC on Thursday blamed depressed prices of platinum group metals for a sharp drop in interim profit and lower dividend.
The Cyprus-headquartered platinum miner said its pretax profit fell 27% to $53.2 million for the first six month that ended March 31 from $72.4 million a year earlier.
Tharisa interim revenue rose 10% to $369.1 million from $335.3 million, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation remaining virtually flat at $79.6 million, compared to $81.2 million.
PGM production was down 7.7% at 71,100 ounces from 77,000 ounces, with an average PGM basket price of $1,344 per ounce, down 39% from $2,216.
However, chrome output rose 9.9% to 865,600 tonnes from 787,900 tonnes. Chrome price on average grew 17% to $288 a tonne from $247.
Continued real demand for chrome concentrates from China, necessary to maintain its stainless steel appetite, continued to support the demand from South Africa, the company said.
Global volume demand for chrome for calendar year 2023 was supported by a 4.6% increase in stainless steel production. Global chrome production increased by 4% despite a rundown of port inventories in China.
Tharisa cut its interim dividend to 1.5 US cents from 3 cents.
The miner said it remains remain confident of the fundamentals of chrome and PGMs. While the chrome price has reacted positively to the underlying tight supply demand fundamentals, the PGM price is ignoring the schism between supply and demand, it added.
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