Sibanye shares slump after second loss in two years (updated)

Franco-Nevada

21/02/2025 06:35

* 
      Low platinum prices push miner to second successive annual
loss
    

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      Gold contributes 45% to group income, up from 17%
previously
    

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      Investment decision on U.S. lithium JV imminent
    

  
 (Writes through with shares, CEO comments)
       Feb 21 (Reuters) - Sibanye Stillwater's  SSWJ.J  shares
slumped to their lowest this year after it suffered its second
consecutive full-year loss in two years.
    Sibanye's shares declined 9% at 0857 GMT after the precious
metals producer posted a $311 million loss last year. However,
the Johannesburg-based miner said a rally in gold prices helped
partially offset the impact of persistently low platinum group
metal (PGM) prices.
    Sibanye's profit tumbled $2 billion in 2023, hammered by a
slump in prices for platinum and palladium, metals which are
used to manufacture devices that help curb vehicle emissions. 
    Sibanye wrote down $500 million of its U.S. palladium
assets, citing a lower palladium price outlook, following a $2.6
billion impairment charge in 2023.
    Income at Sibanye's gold mines in South Africa surged 66% to
5.8 billion rand ($316 million) due to a rally in gold prices.
    The gold mines, which are some of the oldest in South Africa
and deepest in the world, contributed 45% of the group's core
earnings or EBITDA.
    While Sibanye has diversified into PGMs, lithium, nickel and
zinc processing, the gold mines are "an insurance policy" when
prices for industrial metals decline, outgoing CEO Neal Froneman
said.
    Sibanye is among South African platinum miners that have cut
jobs and restructured operations as they battled to squeeze
profits amid a slump in metal prices.
    The Sibanye board is currently reviewing updated project
information on the proposed Ryolite Ridge joint venture in
Nevada with ioneer  INR.AX  and an investment decision could be
made before the end of February, Froneman said.
    "We've presented our assessment, having received the
detailed feasibility study. Probably within a week we will be
able to advise the market of our decision," he said. 
    ($1 = 18.3567 rand)

 (Reporting by Nelson Banya and Felix Njini; Editing by
Christopher Cushing, Shri Navaratnam and David Evans)
 ((Nelson.Banya@thomsonreuters.com;))