Strong rand punishes South African mining giant

Kumba Iron Ore posted lacklustre revenue growth despite higher iron ore export prices and increased sales, as these factors were partially offset by a stronger rand, resulting in a R1.6 billion decrease in revenue.

The stronger rand, along with a 15% decrease in shipping revenue, also saw the miner’s profit decrease year-on-year.

On Thursday, 19 February 2026, Kumba Iron Ore, a unit of global mining giant Anglo American, released its annual financial statements for the 2025 financial year, which ended 31 December 2025.

These statements revealed revenue growth of 2% to R70.1 billion, and a profit decrease of 0.62% to R19.16 billion.

The miner explained that its revenue benefited from a 3% increase in iron ore export prices, which boosted revenue by R3.1 billion.

In addition, the miner increased its total sales volumes by 2%, which increased revenue by R1.3 billion.

However, much of this growth was offset by two factors – a stronger rand against the US dollar and a decrease in shipping revenue.

Kumba explained that a 2% stronger average rand/US dollar exchange rate led to a R1.6 billion decrease in revenue.

At the same time, lower freight rates led to a 15% decrease in Kumba’s shipping revenue to R6.9 billion.

Positively, the miner’s cost-saving initiatives, alongside lower non-cash costs, paid off in the 2025 financial year, with operating expenses decreasing by 2% to R45.2 billion.

The miner also benefited from a R942 million penalty income received from Transnet due to the state-owned utility’s logistics underperformance during the period.

This, combined with the higher iron ore prices and sales volumes, saw Kumba’s EBITDA grow by 14% to R31.9 billion and a higher EBITDA margin of 46%.

However, Kumba’s basic earnings per share declined by 0.52% to 45.57 cents per share.

The mining giant declared a final cash dividend per share of R15.43, bringing its total 2025 cash dividend to R32.03 per share, down 17% compared to the 2024 financial year.