Assore Limited : Final results for the year ended 30 June 2012

COMMENTARY

Earnings for the f1nancial year to 30 June 2012 have mcreased by 25,3% on the previous year to R4,0 b!llion. The mcrease is mainly due to the increased earnings of Assmang Lim1ted (Assmang), wh1ch increased by 19,0% to R6,9 b!ll!on, based on the tradmg condit!Ons described below Assore holds a 50% interest 1n Assmang, which 1s proportionate ly consol!dated 1n accordance with lnternation al Financial Reportmg Standards (IFRS) commiss1ons earned on the higher sales of Group products 1ncreased by 23,2% compared to the prev1ous f1nanc1a1 year and also contnbuted pos1t1ve1 y to the Group's earnmgs.
The 1ncreased leve l of earn1ngs for the year was due mostly to h!gher sales volumes of 1ron ore and desp1te lower us Dollar sales pnces for ali of the Group's products, the weaker Rand/US Dollar exchange rate offset these lower sales prices to a large degree. This resulted 1n revenues from 1ron ore mcreasmg substantiall y; wh!le those for the other products of the Group were at s1milar levels compared to the prev1ous financ1a1 year.

Sales volumes

Sales of 1ron ore 1ncreased ma1n1 y as a result of Assmang's Khuman1 lron ore Mme ramp1ng up 1ts product1on to 14 m!lllon tons per annurn. Product!on efflclenc!es led to mcreased volumes of manganese alloys 1n Ime Wlth the Group's strategy to mcrease 1ts ferromanganese capac1ty WhIle the closure of ehrome furnaces at Machadodorp works for the1r convers1on to manganese furnaces led to decreased sales of charge chrome, it did however result in additional chrome ore volumes bemg available for export

Assmang's turnover for the year under rev1ew mcreased to R23) bill1on (2011 R19,1 bill!on), and the following table sets out the sales volumes of Assmang's products for the year under rev1ew:

Year ended 30 June lncrease/

Finat resutts for the y.ear ended 30 June 2012

• Headline earnings up

15,2% to a record

exchange rates, makes 1t difflcult to comment on the performance of the Group for the next s1x months w1th any conf1dence.

Dividends

The results 1n th1s announcement Include the mter1m diV!dend of 250 cents (2011 200 cents) per share wh!ch was declared on 16 Aprii 2012 and pa1d to shareholder s on 14 May 2012. In 11ne w1th the results for the year, the Board has declared a f1na1 dlvidend of 300 cents (2011 250 cents) per share, makmg a total dlvidend 1n respect of proflt for the year of 550 cents (2011 450 cents) per share. The fina l d!VIdend w111 be pa1d to shareholders on or about 1 october 2012 and, 1n accordance w1th IFRS, 1s not
1ncluded 1n the results conta1ned 1n th1s announcement as 1t was declared after year end

Review by auditors

Ernst & Young lnc, the Group's auditors, have reviewed and issued an unmodlfied report on the condensed f1nanc1al results 1ncluded 1n th!s announcement 1n accordance w1th ISRE 241o- Rev1ew of lntenm F1nanc1a1 1nformat1on Performed by the lndependent Aud1tor of the Ent1ty A copy of the1r report
1s available for mspect1on at the reg1stered offlce of the company

Accounting policies and basis of preparation

The condensed fmanc1a1 results for the year under rev1ew have been prepared under the superv1s1on of Mr CJ cory; CA(SA) and 1n accordance w1th lAS 34- lntenm Fmanc1a1 Report1ng as 1t appl!es to fmal results. The accountmg poi!Cies appl!ed are cons1stent w1th those adopted 1n the financial year ended
30 June 2011. Revisions and amendme nts to, and interpretat!Ons of IFRS effectiv e in the year and adopted early; have not had a matena1 1mpact on the results or d1sc1osures of the Group

Directors

Since the intenm results announcement on 15 February 2012, the following changes to the Board have taken piace

• 3 May 2012 - Mr DMJ Ncube res1gned as lndependent non-execut1ve director,

• 31 August 2012- Mr PC (Phll) crous res1gned as Group Techn1ca1 and operat1ons Director, followmg

Metr1c tons '000

*Excludmg mtra-group sa/es to al/oy plants

capitai expenditure

2012 2011 (decrease)%

R3,7 billion

• Record iron ore

h1s decis1on to take early retirement , and
• 1 september 2012 - Messrs AD (Aiastair) Stalker and BH (Tiaan) van Aswegen, both prev1ousl y alternate d1rectors,were appointed as Group Marketing Director and Group Techn1ca1 and operations Director respect1ve1 y

Declaration of final dividend

Sharehold ers are adv1sed that the board of directors ("the Board") has declared Fmal Dividend Number
111 ("the DIVIdend"), of 300 cents (2011; 250) per share (gross) for the year ended 30 June 2012 on
31 August 2012.

In terms of paragraph 11.17 of the Listings Requirement s of JSE L!mited, shareho lders are advised of

The bulk of the Group' s capitai expend1tur e occurs in Assmang and amounted to R4,5 bill!on (2011: R4,1 bill!on) for the year under review R3 bill!on was spent at the Khuman1 lron ore Mine, with R1,3 bill!on bemg spent on the Khuman1 EXpans1on Pro]ect (KEP), des1gned to produce 16 million tons of ore per annum. The KEP has been completed on schedule and w1thm budget A further R1,2 billlon was spent on development of the m1ne, largely on waste-stnpp1ng . Assmang's Manganese ore Mmes spent R450 m!ll!on, most of whlch was for replacement capitai 1tems and mobile mmmg equ1pment The amount 1ncludes R86 m1111on of the R5,6 billlon 1ntended spend on the expans1on of the manganese mines. R153 m!llion was spent on the ongoing developm ent of the Nchwanmg Manganese Mme. A further R150 mlllion was spent at cato R1dge works on enwonm ental and other sustamabil!ty pro]ect s. The convers1 on oftwo chrome furnaces to ferromanganese furnaces at Machadodorp works

volumes

• Capitai expansion programme on schedule

the follow ing with regard to the dec1arat 1on

1. the Dlvidend has been declar ed from accumulated reven ue;

2. the l ocal DIVIdend Tax rate 1s 15%,

3. the company does not have any secondary compan1 es Tax (STC) cred!t avallable to reduce the impact ofthe Dlvidend Tax;

4. the net local divlde nd amount 1s 255 cents per share for shareholde rs 11able to pay the

DIVIdends Tax,

5. the 1ssued ordmary share capitai of Assore 1s 139 607 ooo shares; and

6. Assore's 1ncome Tax re ference number 1s 9045/018/84/ 4

The sal!ent dates are as follows

contmu es and it is expected that the furnaces w111 be comm1ssi oned in the third calendar quarter of

2012. Apart from the expenditur e in Assmang, R39 million has been spent on the developm ent of two underground chrom1te mmes at Rustenburg Mlnerals, the scheduled comm!ss1onmg of wh!ch 1s expected to meet the1r planned product1on volumes dunng calendar 2013.

• Last day for tradmg to quallfy and part1c1pate 1n the final d!VIdend

• Trad1ng "ex dIVIdend" commences

• Record date

• Dividend payment date

Thu rsday; 20 september 2012
Fnday; 21 september 2012

Fnday; 28 september 2012

Monday,1 october 2012

Outlook

sovere1gn debt issues 1n Europe,the apparent econom1c slowdown in China and subdued recovery 1n

the un1ted States, continue to hamper world economie growth, which is cntical to the level of globa l

• Final dividend increased to R3,00 per share

Share cert1f1cates may not be dematenal!sed or rematenal!s ed between Fnday; 21 september 2012 and Fnday; 28 september 2012, both days mc1us1 ve.

on behalf of the Board

steel product1 on and pred1ctin g the Group's perform ance. Although world steel product ion in the first

half of calend ar 2012 was at record l evels, this leve l 1s expected to decime over the next six months, wh!ch could result 1n a reduct1on 1n demand for the Group's products. In add1t1on, global supply of the Group's products has 1ncreased wh!ch has put pressure on pnces Th!s, together w1th the volatlllty 1n

consolidated income statement

consolidated statement of financial position

Desmond sacco

Cha1rman

Johannesburg

3 september 2012

consolidated statement of cash flow

CJ Cory

ChJef Executwe Offlcer

Revenue

Year ended Year ended

30 June 30 June

2012 2011

Reviewed AUdlted

R'OOO R'OOJ

13 762 351 11 180 035

ASSETS

At At

30June 30 June

2012 2011

Reviewed AUdl ted

R'OOO R'OOO

Cash generated from operat1ons

Year ended

30 June

2012

Reviewed

R'OOO

3 757 225

Year ended

30 June

2011

AUdlted
R'OOJ

3 521 328

Turnover 12 947 766 10 547 805

Cost of sales (7 337 643) (6 044 740)

Gross proflt 5 610 123 4 503 056

Other 1ncome 1 984 313 848 731

F1nance costs (217 244) (77 790) Proflt before taxat1o n 5 584 726 4816 210

Taxation (1 537 692) (1 566 524)

Non-current assets

Property, plant and equipment, mvestment

propert1es and 1ntang1b le assets 9 529 499 8 027 352 lnvestme nts

- avallable- for-sale 239 332 887 249

- other 34 725 30 789

Cash ut1llsed in mvestmg activit1es
Treasury shares acqu1red
Proceeds on disposa l of ava!lable-for -sale investments
Long-te rm f1nance ra1sed

Long ter m liabilitie s repa1d

lncrease 1n cash for the year

(2 318 977)

(2 692 555)

663 650

2 310 000 (713 900)

989 703

(2 193 127)

(894 555)

426 825

Profit for the year

4 047 034 3 249 686

Other non-current f1nanc1a l assets 106 665 53 051

Cash resource s at begmning of year

2 334 734

1 907 909

Attributable to

Sharehol ders of the holding company 4 033 013 3 219 754

Non-cont rolllng shareho lders 14 021 29 932

As above 4 047 034 3 249 686

Total non-cur rent assets 9 910 221 8 998 441

Current assets

cash resources per statement of financial position

3 324 437 2 334 734

Earnmgs as above 4 033 013 3 219 754

1mpa1rment of non-fm anc1al asset s 82 705

lnventon es 2 177 066 2 005 577

Trade and other receivab les 2 049 782 1 632 270

consolidated statement of changes in equity

Year ended Year ended

Proflt on d!sposal of f1 xed assets

(1 863) (407)

cash resources 3 324 437 2 334 734

30 June 30June

Headline earnings for the year 3 707 763 3 219 347

Earnmgs per share (basic and dlluted) - cents 3 827 2 691

Headllne earnings per share (basic and diluted) - cents 3 519 2 690

D1v1dends per share declared 1n respect of the proflt for

Total current assets 7 551 285 5 972 581

TOTAL ASSETS 17 461 506 14 971 022

l

Share capitai, share premium and other reserves

2012 2011

R'OOO R'OOJ

the year (cents) 550 450

- lntenm 250 200
- Fmal 300 250

We1ght ed average number of ord1nary shares (mllllon)

Ordmary shares 1n 1ssue 139,61 139,61

Welght ed impact of treasury share s held 1n trust (34,24) (19,94)

105,37 119,67

consolidated statement of comprehensiv e income

EQUITY ANO LIABILITIES Share capitai and reserves

Ordmary shareho lders' 1nterest 11 200 402 10 765 524

Non-contr olling 1nteres ts 126 858 114 287

Total equ1ty 11 327 260 10879 811

Non-current liabilities

Deferre d taxat1on llabillt1es 2 357 001 2 173 621

Balance at begmning of year 734 092 529 210

Other comprehen sive (loss)/incom e (389 544) 204 882

Balance at end of year 344 548 734 092

Treasury shares

Balanc e at begmn1ng of year (2 359 028) (2 359 028) Acqu1red during the year (2 692 555)

Balance at end of year (5 051 583) (2 359 028)

Retained earnings

Balance at begmning of year 12 390 460 9 697 261

Profit for the year (as above)

net of tax

Proflt on d1sposa l of avallable- for-sa le invest ments recogn1 sed

Net ga1n on reva1uat1 on to market value of avallable -for-sal e

!nVestments

Deferre d capita i gains taxat1 on
Attributabl e to

Shareho lders of the holding company

Non-controllln g 1nterests

Year ended

30 June

Reviewed

3 643 469

14 021

Year ended

30 June

AUdlted

3 424 636

29 932

Long-te rm liabillt1e s 1 938 844 222 888

Total non-curr ent l!abillt1es 4 295 845 2 396 509

current liabilities

lnterest -bearmg 192 019 154 1 47

Non-mte rest-bear ing 1 646 382 1 540 555

Total current llab!llt!es 1 838 401 1 69 4 702
TOTAL EQUITY ANO LIABILITIES 17 461 506 14 971 022 cap1tal expend1t ure (R mllllon) 2 312,5 2 112,5

Capitai commitment s (R milllon) 3 357,4 3 282,4

Segmental information

Prof1t for the year 4 033 013 3219 754

D1 v1dends pa1d (net of d1v1dend s on treasury shares)

numbers 109 and 11o aggregatmg RS,OO per share

(2011 R 4,40 per share) (516 036) (526 555) Balance at end of year 15 907 437 12 390 460

Ordinary shareholders' interest 11 200 402 10 765 524

Non-controlling interests

Balance at begmni ng of year 114 287 102 035

Total comprehe ns1ve mcome 14 021 29 932

D1 v1dend s pa1d to mmont1es (8 046) (14 153) Foreign currency transla t1on reserve aris1 ng on consol idat1on 6 596 (3 527)

Balance at end of year 126 858 114 287

Total equity 11 327 260 10 879 811

As above

Assore Limited

3 657 490 3 454 568

Joint venture mining and beneficiation

Other

Marketing mining and

Company registration number 1950!037394!06

Shar e code. ASR /SIN ZAE000146932 (Assore" or "Group" or "Company")

Directors:

Executive

l>=smon d Sacco (Chairman), CJ Cory (Chief Executive Officer), AD Stal ker (Marketing), BH van Aswegen

(Technica/ and Operations)

Alternate

PE Sacco

Non-executive

EM Southey * (Oe puty Chairman and Lead lndependent Director) , RJ Carpen ter, WF Urmson*

*lndepe ndent

Registered office

Assore House,15 Fncker Road,lllovo Boulevard, Johannesb urg, 2196

company secretaries

African Mming and Trust Company Lim1ted

Transfer office

Comput ershare lnvest or Services (Propriet ary) Lim1ted,70 Marsha ll Street, Johann esburg, 2001

Sponsor

The Standa rd Bank of South Afnca Lim1ted

R'OOO

Revenues

lron ore

Manganese

Chrome

sub-total and shipping beneficiation Eliminations*

Group

www.assore.com

*E /iminaHons comprise of the eliminatio n of the 50% share attributa ble to the }Oint venture party in Assmang and inter- segmental tr ansacHons

BASTIO N GRAPHICS