Sibanye-Stillwater profits plummeted 44% in 2022, with the group's performance weighed down by a three-month strike at its SA gold mines, a one-in-200-year flood at its Montana operations in the US, inflation and other macro-economic headwinds.
The mining group on Tuesday reported a profit for the period of R19 billion for 2022 compared to R33.8 billion for the prior year.
According to Sibanye CEO Neal Froneman, the group's performance for 2022 reflects significant positive achievements in some respect and notable challenges in others.
"The group operating and financial results for 2022 were impacted by exogenous factors, including a more challenging macro-economic and geopolitical environment and the severe weather event in Montana, which impacted our US PGM operations," he said. "Global macro influences, including significant inflationary cost pressures globally, ongoing supply chain disruptions and a deteriorating economic outlook, which reflected in lower demand and lower prices for the metals we produce."
The industrial action and flooding events resulted in significantly reduced production from the SA gold and US PGM operations during 2022, with a concomitant increase in unit costs. The phased resumption and build-up of safe production after these operational stoppages also negatively impacted production and costs during the second half of the year, resulting in group revenue declining by 20% to R138.3 billion for 2022 compared with R172.2 billion for 2021.
Sibanye's board of directors declared a half-year cash dividend of R1.22, or R3.5 billion, bringing the total dividend for the year to R2.60, equating to 35% of normalised earnings for the year.
Sibanye said its South African Platinum Group Metal (PGM) operations continue to move down the cost curve despite the electricity load curtailment impact on production.
Inflation-linked wage agreements signed at the gold and PGM operations position them for stability in the coming years.
According to Froneman, the most significant achievement during 202 was the ongoing improvement in the group's safety performance and a turnaround in the number of fatal incidents thanks to a targeted safety programme.
"We regrettably suffered five fatalities across the group during 2022," he said. "While this is an improvement on the 21 fatalities in 2021, it is five too many; eliminating fatal incidents is the first step in our continued effort to ensure our goal of zero harm in the workplace is achieved."
The miner has also continued to progress its battery metals strategy through various acquisitions.
Further opportunities do not exclude selective expansion into Africa. Zambia was identified as a potentially attractive jurisdiction, with the Mopani copper being of particular interest.
Zambia was identified as a potentially attractive jurisdiction, with the Mopani copper being of particular interest.