Tharisa shares jump as interim profit surges up to 472%

Tharisa's shares jumped as much as 7% intraday, closing nearly 5% higher, after the group guided to headline earnings per share of 16.1 to 16.6 US cents for the six months to March 2026, an increase of 455% to 472% on the prior comparable period. Basic earnings per share were guided even higher, up more than 500% to 15.3 to 15.8 US cents. The gains were driven overwhelmingly by price: Tharisa's realised PGM basket price for the half was $2,600/oz, against $1,400/oz a year earlier, while its chrome concentrate price improved more modestly, to $284 a tonne from $253.

Volumes held broadly steady

Production told a quieter story than the earnings numbers. First-quarter PGM output for the period was up 17% to 73,000 oz, while chrome concentrate production of 753,000 tonnes was broadly flat year-on-year. As with most of its South African PGM peers during this period, Tharisa's earnings growth in the half came predominantly from price rather than volume, though the company's underlying production base continued to grow steadily through its ongoing underground transition project.

A share price re-rating

Tharisa's stock had already gained roughly 90% over the twelve months before the announcement, and traded at around R29 at the time of the update. A commentary from News24 summarising the announcement described the move simply: "the earnings surge reflects a dramatic improvement in metal prices."

The interim guidance mattered beyond Tharisa's own shareholders because it reinforced a theme running through the whole PGM sector in early 2026: even mid-sized, diversified producers with meaningful chrome exposure were seeing earnings multiply on the back of higher metal prices. For Tharisa specifically, the improved cash generation strengthened its position heading into a period when it needed to close out financing for the Karo Platinum project in Zimbabwe, giving the company more room to negotiate favourable terms with lenders and the Zimbabwean government on the remaining capital required. Analysts said the update left Tharisa well placed to negotiate financing for its Zimbabwean growth project from a position of comparative financial strength. Analysts said the update left Tharisa well placed to negotiate financing for its Zimbabwean growth project from a position of comparative financial strength, at a point when other developers on the Great Dyke were still struggling to close out their own funding packages.

Sources

• Miningmx: Tharisa shares jump on profit surge, 14 May 2026

Photo: Chromitite from the North West province, the region where Tharisa mines chrome alongside PGMs. James St. John, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0.