| Tue 15 Feb 2005, 11:35 | | AngloPlat may close shafts, cut jobs |
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AngloPlat may close shafts, cut jobs
John Fraser
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Resources Editor
WORLD number one platinum producer Anglo Platinum may have to close some marginal shafts, retrench mineworkers and delay some new expansion projects, CE Ralph Havenstein said yesterday.
The company, which failed to meet cost targets after a strike in October last year and a higher-than-expected wage settlement, also trimmed next year’s production target due to the buoyant rand.
“I can’t exclude the closure of shafts or the retrenchment of miners,” said Havenstein. He said 300 managers had already been retrenched in restructuring.
Havenstein said he was determined to regain control over costs — which increased 9,2% last year. This cost focus was one reason for the recent restructuring of AngloPlat’s management, he said.
Havenstein said the possible closures would be on older operations and of individual shafts.
“If the rand stays where it is now, and we can’t find a solution to the cost structure in these specific areas, we cannot exclude the possibility of closure in a few isolated pockets,” he said.
“We are in discussions with the unions on a number of shafts.”
Havenstein also announced a cut of as much as 7% in the company’s expansion next year, which has been trimmed to between 2,7-million ounces and 2,8-million ounces — down from a recent forecast of 2,9-million ounces.
“This may not sound like a huge cut, but it is,” said an analyst. “At the end of 1999 they were talking of about 3,5-million ounces.”
Havenstein said capital expenditure this year was being cut back to R6bn, in line with the slower implementation of new projects.
The CE was “very disappointed” at the Reserve Bank’s monetary policy committee not cutting interest rates last week. “For us, lower interest rates would make expansion projects more viable, and a slowdown less necessary,” he said.
National Union of Mineworkers spokesman Moferefere Lekorotsoana said yesterday that redundancies or a slowdown in investment in the platinum sector, which was far more robust than gold, “does not make sense. Platinum is in a better position than most other mining sectors.”
Lekorotsoana said there was no reason for anyone in platinum production to consider cutting jobs. He was not aware of any consultations on this with the union.
AngloPlat yesterday reported a 19,7% rise in revenue to R19,3bn, with a 16,6% rise in diluted headline earnings a share to R11,32.
A final dividend of 335c (2003: 270c) was declared.
AngloPlat enjoyed a 9% rise in revenue an ounce, with higher commodity prices being partially cancelled out by a stronger rand.
The company said that the volatility of the rand-dollar exchange rate made it difficult to predict the level of earnings for 2005. An analyst said the results were better than expected, despite the strike in October that had affected production.
