Aug 8 (Reuters) - Aquarius Platinum Ltd ,the fourth-largest platinum producer in the world, reported asmaller full-year loss, as production increased at two of itsoperational mines - Kroondal in South Africa and Mimosa inZimbabwe.
Headline loss before exceptional charges narrowed to $61million for the year ended June 30 from $154 million a yearearlier.
Revenue fell 24 percent to $371 million.
The company said it took an impairment charge of $226million against the carrying value of its mining assets.
Group attributable production, excluding operations on careand maintenance, rose 13 percent to 325,103 platinum group metal(PGM) ounces for the full year.
"Aquarius Platinum has had the flexibility of shuttinghigh-cost operations, a flexibility not available to itsplatinum peers to the same extent. We believe the group hasmanaged this process extremely well and is well-placed forimproving global auto-market conditions," Citi Research analystJon Bergtheil said in a note.
Labour disputes, union turf wars and weak prices havesqueezed platinum producers in South Africa, home to a lion'sshare of the precious metal that is predominantly used injewellery and as a catalyst in the auto industry.
Aquarius Platinum's shares were up marginally at 43 pence inearly trade on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.