IRON AND STEEL

Kumba Iron Ore stocks falls after profit warning

Shares of Kumba Iron Ore, a member of the Anglo American Plc group, declined 2.5% percent to R565 after it said first-half earnings will probably fall by more than analysts estimated.

Author: Carli Cooke
Posted: Friday , 06 Jul 2012

BLOOMBERG - 

Kumba Iron Ore Ltd. (KIO) fell by the most in more than a week in Johannesburg trading after the Anglo American Plc (AAL) unit said first-half earnings will probably fall by more than analysts estimated.

The stock declined 2.5 percent to 565 rand as of 1:46 p.m. local time, the biggest drop since June 28.

Earnings excluding one-time items are likely to be 7.1 billion rand ($864 million), or 22.10 rand a share, to 7.5 billion rand, or 23.40 rand, Kumba said in a statement today. Earnings on that basis were 28.23 rand a share a year earlier. The median estimate of four analysts surveyed by Bloomberg is for 23.84 rand.

"The decrease in earnings is largely attributable to a decrease in export iron ore prices in the period," the Johannesburg-based company said. Full details of the earnings will be released on July 20, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Carli Cooke in Johannesburg at clourens@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net