Northam Platinum registered a 44.9% year-on-year increase in revenue to R20.1-billion the for the six months ended December 31, 2022.
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) also rose 54.5% year-on-year to R10-billion.
Northam, which has a net debt of R12.4-billion, recorded a new debt to Ebitda ratio of 0.62, which is further away from its target of 1.
Meanwhile, company chief executive Paul Dunne said platinum group metals output in South Africa will continue on a downward spiral without new mines.
“With platinum, we see an accelerating contraction in supply as the South African production base ages. The market may not necessarily believe this, but it is inevitable from here on out, and it's compounded by a particularly challenging operating backdrop in South Africa,” he said.
Dunne said palladium output is expected to remain flat until 2027 with a moderate decline thereafter.
“New applications are leading to additional demand that was not foreseen a few years ago, such as use in the hydrogen economy, food preservation and new medical technologies,” he said.
"Moreover, the evolving quest to reduce carbon released into the atmosphere also requires growing amounts of a range of metals.”
The company said its operational growth strategy is increasing the throughput of the metallurgical operations, as well as increasing the number of feed streams.
This, it said, is necessitating commensurate upgrades to the capacity and flexibility of all processes, the requirements and scheduling of which have been informed by thorough production capacity analysis.
“These upgrades will maintain our status as an independent PGM producer, benefitting from the full mine-to-market value stream,” said Northam.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) also rose 54.5% year-on-year to R10-billion.
Northam, which has a net debt of R12.4-billion, recorded a new debt to Ebitda ratio of 0.62, which is further away from its target of 1.
Meanwhile, company chief executive Paul Dunne said platinum group metals output in South Africa will continue on a downward spiral without new mines.
“With platinum, we see an accelerating contraction in supply as the South African production base ages. The market may not necessarily believe this, but it is inevitable from here on out, and it's compounded by a particularly challenging operating backdrop in South Africa,” he said.
Dunne said palladium output is expected to remain flat until 2027 with a moderate decline thereafter.
“New applications are leading to additional demand that was not foreseen a few years ago, such as use in the hydrogen economy, food preservation and new medical technologies,” he said.
"Moreover, the evolving quest to reduce carbon released into the atmosphere also requires growing amounts of a range of metals.”
The company said its operational growth strategy is increasing the throughput of the metallurgical operations, as well as increasing the number of feed streams.
This, it said, is necessitating commensurate upgrades to the capacity and flexibility of all processes, the requirements and scheduling of which have been informed by thorough production capacity analysis.
“These upgrades will maintain our status as an independent PGM producer, benefitting from the full mine-to-market value stream,” said Northam.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished
