Key Factors
- African Rainbow Minerals’ H1 2025 headline earnings dropped 49% to R1.52 billion ($83.43 million), hit by weak iron ore and PGM costs.
- ARM Platinum posted a R689 million ($37.82 million) loss, greater than doubling final 12 months’s loss, forcing scaled-back enlargement plans at Bokoni.
- ARM slashed its interim dividend by 25% to R4.5 per share, reducing payouts to R1.01 billion ($55.49 million) amid market uncertainty.
African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), the diversified mining group managed by South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe, has reported a pointy drop in earnings for the primary half of its 2025 fiscal 12 months, highlighting the robust circumstances dealing with the worldwide mining sector.
The company’s headline earnings fell 49 percent to R1.52 billion ($83.43 million), down from R2.96 billion ($162.2 million) a 12 months earlier. The steep decline was pushed by weaker iron ore and platinum group metallic (PGM) costs, sluggish demand from ArcelorMittal South Africa, and rising manufacturing prices.
ARM Platinum loss widens on PGM droop
ARM Platinum, which incorporates the Bokoni, Two Rivers, and Modikwa mines, took the toughest hit. The division posted a headline lack of R689 million ($37.82 million), greater than doubling the R282 million ($15.48 million) loss recorded in the identical interval final 12 months.
Larger mechanized growth prices at Bokoni, mixed with the continued droop in PGM costs, additional eroded profitability, forcing ARM to reduce enlargement plans on the operation.
ARM cuts dividend to preserve money
In response to those monetary pressures, ARM has taken a cautious strategy to capital administration, chopping its interim dividend by 25 % to R4.5 ($0.247) per share. This discount will decrease the full payout to R1.01 billion ($55.49 million), as the corporate prioritizes money preservation in an unsure market.
Regardless of sustaining a internet money place of R6.07 billion ($344.53 million) as of Dec. 31, 2024, ARM recorded a internet money outflow of R1.1 billion ($60.38 million) through the interval, a pointy distinction to the R449 million ($24.64 million) influx a 12 months earlier.
ARM eyes restoration in commodity costs
ARM, which operates throughout iron ore, manganese, PGMs, coal, and base metals, stays a key a part of Motsepe’s enterprise empire. As Africa’s first Black billionaire, he owns 45.9 % of the corporate and has been strategically increasing his pursuits past mining to navigate business challenges.
The corporate’s skill to face up to market volatility will depend upon a restoration in commodity costs and strict value management. With ongoing investments in renewable vitality and effectivity enhancements, ARM is working to strengthen its place in South Africa’s mining sector and construct resilience regardless of near-term pressures.
