South Africa's Highveld Steel and Vanadium Corp. Ltd. 2006 diluted headline earnings per share fell 39 percent to 10.49 rand, the firm said on Tuesday.
The group, the world's top vanadium producer, said headline earnings were 1.04 billion rand in the year to end-December, down from 1.72 billion rand.
Headline EPS is the key profit measure for South African firms and excludes non-trading, capital and certain extraordinary items.
Highveld said in November it expected headline EPS to fall 34-46 percent to between 933 South African cents and 1,133 cents, due to weaker demand for vanadium -- partly as a result of substitution.
Shares in Highveld rose 2.94 percent to 78.90 rand by 1350 GMT, outperforming the JSE Securities Exchange's mid-cap index which was flat.
Highveld said it expected a similar financial performance in 2007 than in 2006.
In 2005, Highveld's diluted headline EPS of 1,721.90 cents was more than double the figure of 2004 due to strong prices for the steel-hardening element vanadium, which is used in oil pipes.
Read more at Reuters South Africa
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