UPDATE 2-Implats FY profit falls, seeks to expand ops

Thu Aug 26, 2010 3:17pm GMT

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* Implats says FY headline EPS 786 cents vs yr-ago 1,001c

* Final cash dividend of 390 cents per share

* Gross refined platinum output down 8 pct

* Shares up 4.2 pct, outperform main JSE index.

(Recasts, adds details and comment)

By Shapi Shacinda

JOHANNESBURG, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Impala Platinum (IMPJ.J: Quote) reported a 22 percent fall in full-year profit on Thursday, hit by slack demand following the global economic crisis, but said it would ramp up operations in anticipation of recovery.

Implats, the world's second-largest platinum producer, said in a statement that the year to end-June was one of the most difficult in the company's history.

Platinum producers were hit hard by lower global prices in 2009, but a growing recovery in demand for the metal, which is used in catalytic converters that cut pollutants from car exhausts, is now prompting miners to increase production. Continued...

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