JOHANNESBURG (Business Day) -- Investors' faith in platinum companies was tested to some extent yesterday, as both Aquarius Platinum [AIM:AQP] and Lonmin [LSE:LMI] released ambivalent quarterly results that mixed good news with bad.
Aquarius Platinum, a relative newcomer that is listed in South Africa, the UK and Australia, announced a 2.4% drop in its total production, largely due to hiccups at its Zimbabwe mines.
The drop saw its share price drop 3.5% to R181.75 on the JSE, trimming a remarkable rise in its stock this year. But despite yesterday's share price drop, Aquarius shares have still gained 18% this year.
Aquarius said that its share of production at its five mines fell to 136,928 ounces for the three months to December, down marginally from the 140,227 ounces recorded in the previous quarter.
Aquarius spokesman Nick Bias said the slight production dip was due to specific problems in Zimbabwe, a planned shutdown that reduced production 10%, and unplanned problems in its primary mill that reduced production another 15%.
In South Africa, its production grew 2% and Bias said "the highlight was our Marikana mine, which really turned a corner."
The Marikana mine has been going through some tough times of late, but during the last quarter its production grew 27%, with Aquarius's share of that being 19,538 ounces.
However, production also fell at Aquarius's biggest-producing mine, Kroondal, from 60,856 to 58,594 ounces.
The quarterly results from Lonmin, the world's third-largest and lowest-cost platinum producer, were also far from convincing.
Results for the three months to December showed that the company sold 15% less platinum group metals than in the previous comparable period - 267,699 ounces compared with 313,860 ounces previously.
Of that total, Lonmin sold 142,095 ounces of refined platinum, down from 163,027 ounces the previous year.
The tonnage that Lonmin mined fell 10%, a dip that Lonmin said was partly due to its need to shut down a leaking smelter.
While this suggested that Lonmin would struggle to meet its target of 1 million ounces of platinum, CEO Brad Mills said the "sales forecast for the year remains around 980,000 to 1 million ounces of platinum."
