Sibanye-Stillwater recorded the best monthly performance on the JSE since 2016 last month as higher precious metal prices boosted the group’s SA gold operations.
Though the shares eased 1.15% to R20.69 on Wednesday, they gained 47.94% in March, a month in which gold reached an
all-time high of $3,100/oz and platinum group metals (PGMs) staged a recovery.
The gold price continues to rally as investors seek a hedge against the economic uncertainty stemming from US tariff threats and geopolitical instability.
Sibanye’s most recent results, published in February, show the group especially benefited from record-high gold prices in the second half of the 12 months to end-December.
It was the first six-month period since 2017 in which adjusted earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (ebitda) from the group’s SA gold operations exceeded its PGM operations, sheltering the group from the storm of low PGM prices and rising electricity costs.
This marked a “notable turnaround” from previous years, when the SA and US PGM operations “comprised 80%-90% of group earnings and sustained the group during a period when the SA gold operations experienced significant operational disruptions”, Sibanye said in its annual results.
Buoyed by the strong bullion price, the group’s mature gold mines “delivered materially better financial results for 2024, during a challenging period for most of our other metals, which are more aligned with industrial economic cycles”.
Adjusted ebitda from the SA gold operations increased by R2.5bn to R3.6bn thanks to an improved operating performance and a 26% increase in the average rand gold price during the period under review.
The turnaround, together with the restructuring and closure of unprofitable operations, saw Sibanye narrow its full-year net loss to R5.71bn, from R37.43bn a year earlier.
“The operational restructuring undertaken over the past 18 months has secured greater operational stability and has, on balance, improved the profitability of the group, with the SA PGM operations profitable for 2024, the SA gold operations benefiting from the increasing gold price and the Century operations in Australia and recycling operations in the US region all contributing positively to the group,” CEO Neal Froneman said.
Shares in PGM miners rallied last week after the World Platinum Investment Council forecast a deeper than expected global platinum deficit in 2025.
After two years of stubbornly low prices, platinum and palladium have gained more than 9% since the start of the year, with rhodium up about 25%.
Further encouragement came last week when Sibanye announced that its French GalliCam operation and Finnish lithium mine had been classified as “strategic” under the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA), which is designed to grow Europe’s domestic supply of critical minerals.
The recognition should further Sibanye’s ambition of becoming a key player in Europe’s critical minerals industry, affirming the company’s “strategic investments and focus on regional ecosystem development”, said Froneman.
The GalliCam operation aims to repurpose the Sandouville operation in France, which has been bleeding cash since the group bought it in 2022. Last year Sibanye said it would terminate the French nickel refinery’s supply contract as a result. Its final inventory was set to be processed by last month.
The company’s plan is that repurposing Sandouville as one of Europe’s first precursor Cathode Active Material (pCAM) producers will reduce the operation’s losses by capitalising on the growth of the European and French electric vehicle (EV) battery industry.
With the EU’s stamp of approval, the ongoing restructuring of Sandouville could support a firmer earnings outlook for the group this year.
The soaring gold price drove a record monthly performance for the SA precious metals and mining index last month, which jumped 33%.
Harmony Gold shares price rose 47% in March and DRDGold 42%, while AngloGold Ashanti and Gold Fields were up 30% and 24% respectively. Pan African Resources added 27%.
Update: April 2 2025
This story contains updated information on gold mining company’s shares.
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