Valterra Platinum First-Half Profit Falls on Rain-Hit Output

Mint

28-07-2025

(Bloomberg) -- Valterra Platinum Ltd. said first-half profit fell 91%, after flooding at a key mine cut production and the company incurred costs during its recent spinoff from Anglo American Plc.
The Johannesburg-based miner slashed its interim dividend to 2 rand per share, a drop of 79% from a year earlier, according to results released on Monday. Valterra completed its separation from Anglo at the start of June when it also added a secondary listing in London.
While the flooding curbed first-half output at its Amandelbult operation by 45%, Valterra still expects to meet its annual target for refined production of 3 million to 3.4 million ounces of platinum-group metals. The impacted mine is the second largest in the South African company's portfolio, after Mogalakwena.
The section of Amandelbult that was most impacted by heavy rains in February resumed operations in June and is expected to reach normal production in the current quarter, Valterra said.
The company said production of refined platinum-group metals was down 22% to 1.4 million ounces during the first six months of the year, due to lower availability of concentrates and a stock count that takes place every three years.
While Valterra and its peers in South Africa – which is by far the world's largest platinum producer – have been tackling a prolonged slump in PGM prices, there have been recent signs of improvement. Platinum and palladium have risen 56% and 37%, respectively, this year – with most of those increases occurring since the beginning of May.
Platinum's gains in the first half of the year 'were underpinned by a more favorable macro-backdrop,' while 'strong Chinese buying, attributed to renewed interest from local jewelry manufacturers and investors, met underwhelming supply given relatively low South African production earlier in the year,' Valterra said.
(Updates with information throughout)
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