{"id":12715,"date":"2025-03-13T12:32:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T13:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/?p=12715"},"modified":"2025-03-16T12:36:48","modified_gmt":"2025-03-16T12:36:48","slug":"exxaro-appoints-ben-magara-as-new-ceo-amid-stagnant-domestic-coal-demand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/builder\/exxaro-appoints-ben-magara-as-new-ceo-amid-stagnant-domestic-coal-demand\/","title":{"rendered":"Exxaro appoints Ben Magara as new CEO amid stagnant domestic coal demand"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post<\/a> was originally published on this site<\/a><\/p>

<\/p>\n

Tawanda Karombo <\/span><\/p>\n

Exxaro Resources, which appointed Ben Magara as new CEO effective next month, said on Thursday that improvements on the rail and port logistics front have been slow, with the company\u2019s financial performance for year to the end of December 2024 affected by lower domestic offtake of coal despite growth in exports.<\/span><\/p>\n

Magara, who was the CEO of platinum mining company, Lonmin Plc, when the Marikana Massacre happened on August 16, 2012.,will become substantive CEO of Exxaro at the beginning of April. He will be taking over from acting CEO <\/span>Riaan Koppeschaa<\/span> who now reverts to being finance director. <\/span><\/p>\n

This follows the departure of Nombasa Tsengwa last month after a bitter fall-out with the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

In its year to December, Koppeschaa said the company\u2019s \u201cfinancial performance had been impacted by lower domestic offtake\u201d despite Exxaro managing to raise exports.<\/span><\/p>\n

The company\u2019s overa<\/span>ll coal production <\/span>dipped <\/span>7% to 39.5<\/span> million tons, with <\/span>coal sales <\/span>for the period <\/span>down 3% <\/span>at <\/span>39.3<\/span> million tons.<\/span><\/p>\n

While e<\/span>xport sales <\/span>strengthened <\/span>37% to 7<\/span> million tons, \u201clower Eskom demand at Grootegeluk mine\u201d contributed to the \u201cdecrease in production volumes\u201d for the period, said Koppeschaa.<\/span><\/p>\n

Exxaro\u2019s revenues for the full year firmed up by 5% to <\/span>R40.7 billion,<\/span> although g<\/span>roup <\/span>earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda)<\/span> decreased by 22% to R10.4<\/span>bn.<\/span><\/p>\n

This meant that headline earnings per share for the period of <\/span>R30.16 per share<\/span> fell by <\/span>36%<\/span>. Nonetheless, Exxaro declared a final cash dividend of 866 cents per share, and also resolved to embark on a R1.2bn share repurchase programme.<\/span><\/p>\n

Koppeschaa told a media briefing after the release of Exxaro\u2019s financials on Thursday that although the company has noted \u201c<\/span>a lot of improvement<\/span>\u201d freight rail logistics sector, the pace has been \u201c<\/span>very slow<\/span>\u201d in yielding effectiveness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>It is not just about the condition and availability of rolling stock, but very much constrained by the very poor condition of infrastructure in the country that has <\/span>been <\/span>below average investment for many years. So we are seeing better of an improvement, but it will be very slow and it will take very long<\/span>,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rail operations during the year \u201ccontinued to face ongoing disruptions, including cable theft, vandalism, unavailability of locomotives and wagons as well as infrastructure degradation\u201d.<\/strong> Three d<\/span>erailments affected Transnet Freight Rail volume throughput during the first half of the year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite these challenges and rail execution volatility, Exxaro said that Transnet Freight Rail\u2019s performance to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal had shown improvements, increasing to 51.9 million tonns per annum. <\/span><\/p>\n

A better performance was particularly recorded during the second half of the period under review.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the year to December, Exxaro\u2019s total capital expenditure (capex) decreased by 8% to R2.4bn compared to R2.7bn a year earlier. Capex for the year under review comprised of R2.1bn mainly for coal sustaining capital, R302 million in expansion capital for the company\u2019s energy projects and R27 million intangible assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

This left Exxaro in a net cash position of R16.3bn excluding energy\u2019s net debt compared to R14.8bn a year earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the outlook, Exxaro expects seaborne thermal coal demand to be influenced by geopolitical factors and energy security needs. Moreover, domestically improvements in the local economic environment are likely to boost coal demand from local end users, particularly as Eskom works to address its operational challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cContinuous rise in iron ore supply and exports remains the key limiting factor for seaborne iron <\/span>ore prices, affecting the performance of Exxaro\u2019s SIOC investment. While major miners\u2019 supply is <\/span>increasing, overall Chinese demand remains relatively flat,\u201d said the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

BUSINESS REPORT<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tawanda Karombo Exxaro Resources, which appointed Ben Magara as new CEO effective next month, said on Thursday that improvements on the rail and port logistics front have been slow, with the company\u2019s financial performance for year to the end of December 2024 affected by lower domestic offtake of coal despite growth in exports.Magara, who was the CEO of platinum mining company, Lonmin Plc, when the Marikana Massacre happened on August 16, 2012.,will become substantive CEO of Exxaro at the beginning of April. He will be taking over from acting CEO Riaan Koppeschaa who now reverts to being finance director.\u00a0This follows the departure of Nombasa Tsengwa last month after a bitter fall-out with the company.In its year to December, Koppeschaa said the company\u2019s \u201cfinancial performance had been impacted by lower domestic offtake\u201d despite Exxaro managing to raise exports.The company\u2019s overall coal production\u00a0dipped\u00a07% to 39.5 million tons, with\u00a0coal sales\u00a0for the period\u00a0down 3%\u00a0at\u00a039.3 million tons.While export sales\u00a0strengthened\u00a037% to 7 million tons, \u201clower Eskom demand at Grootegeluk mine\u201d contributed to the \u201cdecrease in production volumes\u201d for the period, said Koppeschaa.Exxaro\u2019s revenues for the full year firmed up by 5% to\u00a0R40.7 billion,\u00a0although group\u00a0earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda)\u00a0decreased by 22% to R10.4bn.This meant that headline earnings per share for the period of\u00a0R30.16 per share\u00a0fell by\u00a036%. Nonetheless, Exxaro declared a final cash dividend of 866 cents per share, and also resolved to embark on a R1.2bn share repurchase programme.Koppeschaa told a media briefing after the release of Exxaro\u2019s financials on Thursday that although the company has noted \u201ca lot of improvement\u201d freight rail logistics sector, the pace has been \u201cvery slow\u201d in yielding effectiveness.\u201cIt is not just about the condition and availability of rolling stock, but very much constrained by the very poor condition of infrastructure in the country that has\u00a0been\u00a0below average investment for many years. So we are seeing better of an improvement, but it will be very slow and it will take very long,\u201d he said.Rail operations during the year \u201ccontinued to face ongoing disruptions, including cable theft, vandalism, unavailability of locomotives and wagons as well as infrastructure degradation\u201d. Three derailments affected Transnet Freight Rail volume throughput during the first half of the year.Despite these challenges and rail execution volatility, Exxaro said that Transnet Freight Rail\u2019s performance to the Richards Bay Coal Terminal had shown improvements, increasing to 51.9 million tonns per annum. A better performance was particularly recorded during the second half of the period under review.During the year to December, Exxaro\u2019s total capital expenditure (capex) decreased by 8% to R2.4bn compared to R2.7bn a year earlier. Capex for the year under review comprised of R2.1bn mainly for coal sustaining capital, R302 million in expansion capital for the company\u2019s energy projects and R27 million intangible assets.This left Exxaro in a net cash position of R16.3bn excluding energy\u2019s net debt compared to R14.8bn a year earlier.In the outlook, Exxaro expects seaborne thermal coal demand to be influenced by geopolitical factors and energy security needs. Moreover, domestically improvements in the local economic environment are likely to boost coal demand from local end users, particularly as Eskom works to address its operational challenges.\u201cContinuous rise in iron ore supply and exports remains the key limiting factor for seaborne iron ore prices, affecting the performance of Exxaro\u2019s SIOC investment. While major miners\u2019 supply is increasing, overall Chinese demand remains relatively flat,\u201d said the company.BUSINESS REPORT<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-builder"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12716,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12715\/revisions\/12716"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.premium-partners.net\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}