* Cuts 2012 spend; 2013 and 2014 capex drops to $250 million
* Sticks to 2012 sales, cost targets
* Signals major review of investment, growth strategy
* Shares climb on capex cuts
(Adds details, analyst comment, share price)
By Clara Ferreira-Marques
LONDON, July 26 (Reuters) – Platinum miner Lonmin
has slashed spending plans up to 2014, holding back a push to
ramp up key shafts in order to preserve cash as it warned poor
demand and weak prices battering the sector could persist for
longer than expected.
The world’s third-largest platinum miner, seen by analysts
to have one of the weakest balance sheets in the sector, has
been hit along with its rivals by a lacklustre European economy,
soaring costs and government-imposed safety stoppages.
Lonmin said on Thursday it had trimmed 2012 spending by $20
million to $430 million, but cut its plans for its 2013 and 2014
financial years to just $250 million – little more than that
necessary to sustain operations – as it deferred investment in
its key Hossy, K4 and Saffy shafts.
It had hoped to ramp up those growth shafts swiftly, to
bring down the overall cost of producing an ounce of metal.
Continued…
