Anglo American Platinum (AIM:ZERO) Ltd, a unit of Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL), reported record earnings for the six months to end June on higher Platinum (AIM:ZERO) group metals (PGMs) production and prices.
Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) saw its adjusted underlying earnings (EBITDA) jump 385% from the year-earlier period to R63.3bn (£3.1bn) and announced it would pay an interim dividend of R175 per share, up from R10.23 the previous year.
Despite the record earnings and hefty dividend increase, it warned that COVID-19 continues to impact on safety and productivity.
“The operations have undoubtedly been impacted by the effects of COVID-19, with disruptions to our routines and increased absenteeism due to infected employees in recovery all contributing to an increase in our injury frequency rate,” said Amplats chief executive Natascha Viljoen.
Amplats is the world's largest primary producer of platinum and Viljoen commented on the metal's outlook.
“Platinum is likely to be in surplus in 2021, but will shift towards a deficit in the next few years, as substitution of palladium in gasoline catalysts will mean significant increases in automotive platinum demand, Viljoen added.
“Palladium’s deficit, again substantial in 2021, will gradually shrink for the opposite reason. Rhodium, which is likely to be near to balance in 2021, looks set to have a widening deficit as automotive demand improves.”