Northam Platinum, the fourth largest platinum miner in South Africa, has announced record production results for the first half of the 2003/04 financial year.

The firm explained that production of pgms in concentrate in the six months to Decenber 2003 rose 9.4 per cent to 183,063 ounces.

However, Northam declared a 50 per cent reduction in earnings per share, blaming the eroded profit margin on the strong rand, which has gained 68 per cent against the dollar over the last two years.

Headline earnings fell to 44.9 cents a share over the last six months of 2003 from 89.8 cents in 2002.

Northam stated: 'Should the rand basket price (of pgms) received remain at current levels earnings for the second half of the financial year should be slightly lower than that achieved in the first half.'

Total operating costs increased by 12.1 per cent on the back of the growth in production volumes.

The group is also pursuing opportunities to acquire growth assets in conjunction with Mvelaphanda Resources Ltd, which owns 22.3 per cent of Northam.