MERAFE RESOURCES LIMITED - Production Report and Trading Statement for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2016

Production Report and Trading Statement for the Six Months Ended 30 June 2016

Merafe Resources Limited
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
(Registration number: 1987/003452/06)
JSE share code: MRF
ISIN: ZAE000060000
(“Merafe”)


Production report and trading statement for the six months ended 30 June 2016

Production report

Merafe’s attributable ferrochrome production from the Glencore Merafe Chrome Venture
(the Venture) for the six months ended 30 June 2016 increased marginally compared to the
prior comparative period. Production volumes were managed across the first two quarters of
the year through timing of furnace refurbishments to optimise stock levels.

The Venture’s operating capacity utilisation for the six months ended 30 June 2016 was 91%
(82% of installed capacity).




                                                 2016    2015 % Change

Attributable ferrochrome production                kt       kt

  Quarter 1 (1 Jan to 31 March)                  103       99           4%

  Quarter 2 (1 April to 30 June)                  93       96         (3%)

Six months ended 30 June                         196      195          1%
Trading statement

In terms of the JSE Limited Listings Requirements, issuers are required to publish a trading
statement as soon as they are satisfied that a reasonable degree of certainty exists that the
financial results for the period to be reported on next will differ by at least 20% from those of
the prior comparative period.

Shareholders are advised that Merafe is expecting to report the following:

Earnings per share

Basic and headline earnings per share for the six months ended 30 June 2016 of between 2.0
cents and 2.6 cents compared to 5.0 cents for the six months ended 30 June 2016, which is a
decrease of between 48% and 60%.

The earnings for the six months ended 30 June 2016 were impacted by the following key
period on period comparisons:

    -   14% increase in ferrochrome sales volumes
    -   29% weaker average Rand/Dollar exchange rate
    -   23% lower net ferrochrome prices


Expected cash and debt balances – Merafe Resources Limited Group


                                             30-Jun-16      31-Dec-15

                                                    R'm             R'm

Net cash balance                                    412             310
Merafe's 20.5% of the Venture's
debtors facility                                  (543)           (411)

ABSA and Standard bank debt*                      (480)           (560)

Total                                             (611)           (661)


* On 1 July 2016, R70m of the R480m ABSA and Standard Bank debt was repaid bringing the balance to
R410m. The R70m comprises of R50m being a mandatory repayment of the Term facility and R20m being a
voluntary pre-payment of the Revolving Credit facility


Shareholders are advised that the financial information on which this trading statement is
based, has not been reviewed or reported on by Merafe`s external auditors and is provided in
terms of paragraph 3.4(b) of the JSE Limited Listings Requirements. The financial results for
the six months ended 30 June 2016 are expected to be released on SENS on 1 August 2016.


19 July 2016
Sandton
Sponsor:
Merrill Lynch South Africa Proprietary Limited

Date: 19/07/2016 09:00:00 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.