2023-05-09 10:34:39 ET
Sibanye-Stillwater ( NYSE: SBSW ) -10.9% in early trading Tuesday after reporting Q1 adjusted EBITDA fell more than 50% and lowering its full-year U.S. platinum group production guidance.
Q1 adjusted EBITDA plunged to $441M from $898M in the year-earlier quarter, weighed by power cuts in South Africa and operational disruptions in the U.S.
Helped by high gold prices, Sibanye's ( SBSW ) gold mines in South Africa returned to profit in Q1, reporting EBITDA of 774 rand (US$44M), swinging from a loss of 680M rand in the year-ago quarter when the company was hit by a three-month wage strike.
But South Africa platinum group EBITDA plunged 51% to ~7.8B rand (US$391M) from $798M a year earlier, driven by a 19% slide in the rand price of the basket of four PGM metals it produces, and South African PGM output dropped 8% Y/Y to 379,791 oz, hit by load curtailment by South Africa's Eskom electricity utility and increased criminal activity.
Q1 U.S. palladium and platinum production fell 17% Y/Y to 100,690 oz from 122,389 oz, hurt by operating constraints, while adjusted EBITDA plummeted 90% to $14M on higher costs and lower basket prices.
The company lowered FY 2023 production guidance for U.S. platinum group operations to 460K-480K oz from prior guidance of 500K-535K oz, primarily after its Stillwater West mine in Montana suffered a shaft incident.
Despite the operational challenges in South Africa, Sibanye ( SBSW ) maintained its South Africa PGM production guidance for 2023 at 1.7M-1.8M oz.
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Sibanye Stillwater sinks after Q1 EBITDA miss; cuts U.S. PGM production view