ENERGY

Exxaro H1 earnings rise 11%; sees stable H2

Supported by higher mineral sands prices, South African diversified miner Exxaro reported an 11% profit rise in the first half of 2012, adding results for the remainder of the year are likely to be stable.

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters)  - 

South African diversified miner Exxaro on Wednesday posted an 11 percent rise in first-half earnings, boosted by higher mineral sands prices, and said results for the remainder of the year are likely to be relatively stable.

Exxaro said headline earnings per share for the six months to end-June rose 11 percent to 11.62 rand.

Headline EPS is the main profit gauge in South Africa and strip out certain one-time items, such as the 5 billion rand impact from the sale of Exxaro's mineral sands and base metals units.

Revenue was up 3 percent to 9.76 billion rand, partially hit by lower coal volumes and export prices.

Exxaro, South Africa's second-largest coal producer and a big supplier to power utility Eskom, said total coal production decreased by 3 percent, mainly due to lower steam coal volumes.

Coal exports declined by 13 percent given limited availability of capacity on the rail line leading to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal and due to challenges at Exxaro's Mafuba mine.

In the second half of the year, Exxaro expects the coal export price index to remain under pressure, while domestic prices are expected to be marginally higher.

"Overall coal production volumes are expected to be higher in the second half but are likely to be offset by weaker international coal prices," the company said.

Exxaro said it would pay an interim dividend of 350 cents per share.

Shares in the company are up 2.4 percent this year, compared with an 8.1 percent rise in the JSE Top-40 blue-chip index.

© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved