Angloplat H1 headline EPS up 47 pct, cuts FY output

(Reuters) - South Africa's Anglo Platinum posted a 47 percent jump in interim headline earnings per share on Monday, at the top end of its own forecast, and cut its output estimate for the year.

Angloplat, the world's biggest platinum producer, said headline EPS for the six months to end June increased to 29.43 rand from 22.02 rand in the same period last year, mainly due to strong metals prices.


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Commodity markets mostly hold their own vs stocks

(Reuters) - Commodities were mostly firm on Friday despite the risk aversion sweeping through stock and financial markets, with metals, energy and agricultural products trading largely on their own fundamentals.

Platinum fell sharply and gold prices wallowed on concerns about the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and other credit market problems. But copper rose on the strength of second-quarter U.S. economic growth that was stronger than expected.


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Northam Platinum sees FY headline EPS up 80-93 pct

(Reuters) - South Africa's Northam Platinum expects its headline earnings per share for the year just ended to have risen by up to 93 percent due to high metals prices, the firm said on Monday.

The company said in a trading update that it expected headline EPS for the year to end June to have increased to between 540-580 cents from the 300.9 cents made the previous year.


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Platinum May Climb on Lonmin Supply Shortfall; Palladium Futures Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum, little changed in New
York, may rise on supply concerns after Lonmin Plc, the world's
third-biggest producer, delayed some sales. Palladium fell.

Lonmin, based in London, postponed deliveries of as much as
90,000 ounces of platinum until after September after a South
African plant breakdown. A fall in grade, a measure of the metal
contained in ore, will reduce production this year and next,
Lonmin said. Platinum reached a record $1,353.80 an ounce on
May 7.


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Miners boost S.Africa stocks; outlook hits Angloplat

(Reuters) - South African shares muscled to a record high on Thursday as a stronger gold price and Rio Tinto's bid for Alcan powered mining stocks but Anglo Platinum sank on a disappointing trading update.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks rose 0.54 percent to 27,028.86 points, a historic closing peak, while the All-share index gained 0.49 percent to 29,789.95 points, also a record.


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Platinum Drops From Seven-Week High as South African Supply Concerns Fade;

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum fell from a seven-week high
in New York as supply concerns diminished in South Africa, which
produces about 80 percent of the metal. Palladium was little
changed.

Most platinum companies in South Africa started biennial
salary negotiations last month. The National Union of
Mineworkers yesterday said it would respond today to an offer by
Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the world's second-biggest
producer. Anglo Platinum Ltd. increased a pay offer to try to
avert a strike last month.


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Platinum Rises as Potential Strikes May Disrupt Supplies; Palladium Gains

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum rose in New York on concern
potential strikes in South Africa, a source of almost 80 percent
of the metal, may disrupt supplies. Palladium also gained.

Last week, the price of platinum had the biggest weekly gain
in two months as unions threatened to walk off the job over wage
disputes. Anglo Platinum Ltd. raised a pay offer last month to
try to avert a strike and employees at Impala Platinum Holdings
Ltd. turned down a proposed wage increase on June 27. The two
companies are the world's biggest platinum producers.


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Platinum Rises as Potential Strike May Disrupt Supplies; Palladium Falls

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum rose for a sixth consecutive
session, the longest rally in more than a year, as a potential
strike in South Africa took the focus from a possible slowdown in
demand from carmakers, the biggest users. Palladium dropped.

Platinum supplies are threatened by ``widespread South
African industrial action'' as wage talks that started last month
still aren't settled, UBS AG analysts led by London-based Daniel
Brebner wrote in a report yesterday. Prices had dropped on
declining car registrations in Germany, Europe's biggest economy.


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Platinum Futures Drop in Tokyo; Spot Price Up on South Africa Wage Talks

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum futures fell in Tokyo as
the Japanese currency strengthened against the dollar. Metal for
immediate delivery gained on concern wage talks in South Africa,
the world's biggest producer, will lead to supply disruptions.

The yen increased to 123.45 per dollar at 12:10 p.m. in
Singapore from 123.67 late in New York yesterday, after reaching
a 4 1/2-year low of 124.13 on June 22.


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Platinum Falls From Two-Week High as Dollar Strengthens; Palladium Drops

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum fell from a two-week high
in New York as a stronger U.S. dollar reduced the metal's appeal
as a hedge against inflation. Palladium also dropped.

The dollar rose against the euro and traded near a four-
year high versus the yen earlier today. A Federal Reserve report
showed manufacturing in the Philadelphia area accelerated in
June at the fastest pace in more than two years. Platinum, which
is mostly traded in dollars, generally moves in the opposite
direction of the U.S. currency.


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Eland Platinum tumbles on overvaluation worries

(Reuters) - Shares in South African junior miner Eland Platinum Holdings Ltd tumbled on Tuesday as investors worried that they had become overvalued on speculation of a takeover.

Shares in Eland, which have soared 460 percent over the past 12 months, slid 25.7 percent to a low of 89 rand before recovering to 101.8 rand by 1029 GMT, a 15 percent drop.


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Impala Platinum to Help Mineworkers Purchase About 3 Percent of Stock

(Bloomberg) -- Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the
world's second-biggest platinum producer, will help most workers
at its South African mines together buy about 3 percent of its
stock, valued at about 4.26 billion rand ($587 million).

The company, based in Johannesburg, has made ``capital
contributions of an amount sufficient to finance the
acquisition,'' it said today in an e-mailed statement. The deal
is part of Impala's ``empowerment and transformation
initiative.''


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Platinum Drops in Asia Trade Amid Speculation Price Gains May be Overdone

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum futures fell in Tokyo for a
first day in five as some traders said more news, including any
developments in labor talks in South Africa, would be needed to
push the metal higher.

South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers rejected an
initial wage offer from Anglo Platinum Ltd., analyst James Steel
of HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. said in a report dated May 31,
raising concern about possible supply disruptions. The news
helped push platinum futures up by 2 percent, or 100 yen, the
Tokyo Commodity Exchange limit on June 1.


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Platinum Price Declines as Exchange-Traded Fund May Not Be Offered in U.S.

(Bloomberg) -- Platinum fell for a third day in
Asian trading following a report that ETF Securities Ltd. will
not offer an exchange-traded fund for the metal in the U.S.

ETF Securities has no plan to list a U.S.-based platinum
fund, HSBC Holdings Plc said in a report, citing Graham Tuckwell,
ETF Securities chairman. Calls to the office numbers of Tuckwell
and ETF Securities weren't answered.


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