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OPT - Optimum Coal Holdings Limited - Trading statement in respect of the six months ended 31 December 2010 OPTIMUM COAL HOLDINGS LIMITED (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) (Registration number 2006/007799/06) Share code: OPT ISIN: ZAE000144663 ("Optimum Coal" or "the Company") TRADING STATEMENT IN RESPECT OF THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2010 Optimum Coal shareholders are referred to the announcement released on SENS on 17 January 2011 wherein shareholders were advised that Optimum Coal`s earnings per share ("EPS") and headline earnings per share ("HEPS") for the six months ended 31 December 2010 (the "Reporting Period") were likely to be more than 20% higher than EPS and HEPS for the six months ended 31 December 2009 (the "Comparable Period"). The Company is now in a position to provide guidance in accordance with section 3.4 (b) of the Listings Requirements of the JSE Limited and Optimum Coal hereby advises that the forecast ranges of EPS and HEPS for the Reporting Period are expected to be as follows: Reviewed six Reviewed six Reviewed six
months ended months ended months ended 31 Dec 2010 31 Dec 2009 31 Dec 2009 (Restated) (As reported in prospectus)
EPS (cps) 133.00 - 142.00 47.07 9 414 000.00 HEPS (cps) 133.00 - 144.00 57.81 11 562 000.00 Weighted average number of 251 786 186 200 000 000 ordinary shares in issue (# shares) 1 000 Effect of own shares held* (# (52 000 000) (52 000 000) shares) (260) Weighted average number of 199 786 186 148 000 000 shares for IFRS purposes (# shares) 740 * After the 200 000:1 share split, 52 000 000 shares collectively owned by the Employee, Community and Executive Share Incentive Trusts are deemed to be under the control of the Company and are therefore excluded from the calculation of shares outstanding for IFRS purposes. Headline earnings have been adjusted for the effects of one-off items recognised during the financial year. The increase in EPS and HEPS is primarily as a result of improved production volumes from both opencast and underground operations at Optimum Collieries and attributable underground production at Koornfontein Mines which was not consolidated in the Comparable Period. Additionally, the export coal price has strengthened in rand terms over the period. The arbitration process in respect of Optimum Coal`s coal supply agreement to supply coal from its Optimum Collieries operations to Eskom`s Hendrina Power Station continues and the Company expects to complete the process by the end of April 2011. Optimum Coal is in the process of disposing of their platinum exploration assets and this will allow the Company to continue focusing on its core business of producing coal. The financial information on which this trading statement is based has not been reviewed and reported on by the Company`s external auditors. Optimum Coal intends to publish its reviewed interim results on SENS for the Reporting Period on or about 3 February 2011. 31 January 2011 Johannesburg Sponsor RAND MERCHANT BANK (A division of FirstRand Bank Limited) Financial Communications Advisers COLLEGE HILL Date: 31/01/2011 16:05:01 Supplied by www.sharenet.co.za Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited (`JSE`). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.
