Feb 9 (Reuters) – South Africa’s Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd on Tuesday said it expected half-year headline earnings to increase more than fourfold, buoyed by higher metals prices and a weaker rand during the pandemic.

The platinum miner also said refined six-element (6E) platinum-group production for the six months ended Dec. 31, 2020, was expected to increase by 29% to 1.694 million ounces, helped by the inclusion of production from its Canadian unit.

Headline earnings per share is expected between 1,812 U.S. cents and 1,899 U.S. cents, compared with 436 U.S. cents per share reported a year earlier, the miner said.

(Reporting by Indranil Sarkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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