Palabora Mining Company Limited Preliminary Report for the Year Ended December 31, 1997.LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 20, 1998--Rio Tinto Tin´to n. 1. A red Madeira wine, wanting the high aroma of the white sorts, and, when old, resembling tawny port. plc (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : RTP (1) (Rapid Transport Protocol) The protocol used in IBM's High Performance Routing (HPR) system. (2) (Realtime Transport Protocol) An IP protocol that supports real time transmission of voice and video. ) today announced preliminary results for Palabora Mining Company Limited, as follows. -0-
Audited Group Results
Income Statement
1997 1996
R `000s R `000s
Revenue 1,866,133 1,729,390
Operating costs/depreciation 1,261,074 1,094,413
Operating profit 605,059 634,977
Dividends received 99 1,675
Interest received 7,607 25,604
Foreign exchange gains 3,834 23,129
Interest payable (7,447) (11,970)
Profit before taxation 609,152 673,415
Deduct: taxation and lease
consideration 240,885 254,181
Profit after taxation 368,268 419,234
Dividends 150,073 277,492
Retained profit for the year 218,195 141,742
Balance Sheet
Employment of capital
Fixed assets 1,276,191 768,272
Deferred expenditure 81,605 100,691
Investment 28,876 10,500
Current assets 695,355 643,075
Current liabilities (299,593) (446,213)
1,782,434 1,076,325
Capital employed
Ordinary shareholders' funds 736,886 517,261
Provision for restoration 64,200 30,743
Borrowings 389,710 97,908
Provision for post retirement
medical benefits 96,700 96,700
Deferred taxation 494,938 333,713
1,782,434 1,076,325
Summarized Cash Flow
Cash (utilized in)/retained
from operations 270,449 (1,639)
Net cash invested (591,208) (237,649)
Financing movements 291,802 97,908
Net (decrease)/increase in
cash and cash equivalents (28,957) (141,380)
Selected statistics
All tons are metric 1997 1996
Production and sales
Material mined (millions of tons) 30.8 33.2
Copper in concentrate (thousands
of tons) 133.7 143.4
Cathode produced (thousands of tons)113.2 104.3
Cathode sold (thousands of tons) 108.1 109.9
Contained copper sold (thousands
of tons) 130.7 131.9
Average rand/dollar exchange rate 4.61 4.30
Average copper price realized
per metric ton (SAR) 10,967 10,125
Cash cost - delivered (SAR) 4,694 3,877
Average copper price
realized (U.S. c/lb) 108.0 106.8
Capital expenditure (R million) 546 272
Capital commitments (R million)
Approved expenditure at end of
each period 2,227 211
Contracts placed at end of
each period 1,176 196
Share Capital
Ordinary shares of R1 each
(thousands) 23,316 28,316
Earnings per share, based on
net profit after
taxation R13.01 R14.81
Headline earnings per share,
based on net
profit after tax adjusted
for non-operational
gains/losses R12.48 R14.83
Net asset value per share R25.32 R18.27
Dividends
Total dividend (Rands per share) R5.30 R9.80
Directors' Comments Group profit after tax for the year was R368 million, down 12% on the R419 million achieved in 1996. Operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales increased by 15%, or R167 million, due to increased maintenance activity and cost inflation. Interest received/paid and foreign exchange gains reduced by R33 million year-on-year due to the financing requirements for the underground project and lower gains on debtors arising from weakening weak·en tr. & intr.v. weak·ened, weak·en·ing, weak·ens To make or become weak or weaker. weak  en·er n. of the
exchange rate between invoice date Invoice dateUsually the date when goods are shipped. Payment dates are set relative to the invoice date. and settlement. Revenue increased by R137 million due to favorable fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. realized Rand Rand See Witwatersrand. rand 1 n. See Table at currency. [Afrikaans, after(Witwaters)rand. copper prices, up 8% from R10,125 to R10,967 per ton. The equivalent price at year end was R8,800 per ton. Contained copper in concentrate production was 133,662 tons, down 9,703 tons on the 143,365 tons achieved in 1996. Contained copper sales of 130,777 tons were slightly down on the 131,865 tons achieved in 1996. The average unit cash cost of cathode delivered to customers was R4,694 per ton, 21% higher than the R3,877 per ton achieved in the previous year due to higher maintenance cost and lower grade, recovery, by-product by·prod·uct or by-prod·uct n. 1. Something produced in the making of something else. 2. A secondary result; a side effect. by-product Noun 1. contribution and copper production levels. In dollar terms the average cash cost of copper rose by 12.7% from 41.0 US cents per lb to 46.2 US cents per lb. For 1997, Palabora declared total dividends of R5.30 per share. This compares with R9.80 in 1996. The reduced dividend reflects the weakening of the copper price and the intention to finance the R1.5 billion (in 1996 terms) capital expenditure for the underground project partly from retained earnings Retained Earnings The percentage of net earnings not paid out in dividends, but retained by the company to be reinvested in its core business or to pay debt. It is recorded under shareholders equity on the balance sheet. and partly from borrowings. Social Commitment The Palabora Foundation continued to provide substantial assistance to local communities in training, education and socio-economic socio-economic adj → socioeconómico socio-economic adj → socioéconomique development, with financial support from the company amounting to R12 million for 1997. Underground Development Progress on the underground mine being developed to coincide with the closure of the open pit in 2002 continued on schedule. The deepening deep·en tr. & intr.v. deep·ened, deep·en·ing, deep·ens To make or become deep or deeper. Noun 1. deepening - a process of becoming deeper and more profound of the exploration shaft shaft (shaft) a long slender part, such as the diaphysis of a long bone. shaft n. 1. An elongated rodlike structure, such as the midsection of a long bone. 2. was completed, as was the initial underground development to cater for the installation of the infrastructure to handle the large tonnage TONNAGE, mar. law. The capacity of a ship or vessel. 2. The act of congress of March 2, 1799, s. 64, 1 Story's L. U. S. 630, directs that to ascertain the tonnage of any ship or vessel, the surveyor, &c. expected from the main underground development. On surface, the sinking of both shafts commenced and at year-end the production shaft had reached a depth of 816.0m below surface and the service shaft had reached a depth of 997.1m below surface. Declaration of Dividend No. 123 Notice is hereby given that Dividend No. 123 of 100 cents per R1-share, being the final dividend for the year ended December 31, 1997, has been declared payable to shareholders registered in the books of the company on March 13, 1998. The dividend is declared payable in the currency of the Republic of South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. . Dividend warrants will be posted on or about April 2, 1998. The Transfer Books and Register of Members will be closed from March 14 to March 31, 1998, both days inclusive. Note to Editors: Palabora Mining Company Limited is 38.3 percent owned by Rio Tinto Rio Tinto may refer to:
CONTACT: RIO TINTO Peter Darling, Media Relations 011-44-171-753-2355 Gavin Anderson Anderson, river, Canada Anderson, river, c.465 mi (750 km) long, rising in several lakes in N central Northwest Territories, Canada. It meanders north and west before receiving the Carnwath River and flowing north to Liverpool Bay, an arm of the Arctic & Company Jason Kendy 212-373-0200 |
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