The SA Mint made less money with it last year, but still made a lot of money quietly

• Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, the SA Mint managed to produce the Reserve Bank’s full order of 811 million coins in fiscal 2020/21.
• Although the profit fell to R133 million, it was set against a budget of R97 million.
• During the period under review, the coin maker shifted the priority of its core business, manufacturing investment coins, which it sells in both the domestic and international markets.
• In addition, it was negatively impacted by weak local demand, which had been an important growth driver in previous years.
• For more stories see www.BusinessInsider.co.za.

The SA Mint, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), posted lower pre-tax profits last year – but still made 672 million renm on the money.

The company managed to produce the central bank‘s full order of 811 million coins, but saw a decline in profit before tax from a previous ZAR 2.2 billion in the year to the end of March.

The SA Mint makes its living producing the country’s legal tender as well as collecting gold and silver coins. Through its joint venture with Rand Refinery Proprietary Limited, SA Mint also produces and sells Krugerrand bullion coins for the national and international market.

The company said it managed to maintain a healthy buffer stock of coins despite the capacity constraints and supply chain challenges caused by the pandemic.

This burdened the delivery of coins abroad and led to force majeure and reduced income.

The collector coin business, which was only active eight months a year, achieved record sales, supported by export sales and the introduction of the Leopard and Buffalo collectible coins of the Big Five series. The company also made the decision to stop manufacturing bullion coins due to weak local demand. Investment coins have been an important performance driver in recent years. It also delayed the introduction of a 24-carat gold bullion coin during the reporting period.

One ounce Krugerrand coin. (Image: Getty)

The South African Bank Note Company, also a subsidiary of Reserve Bank that manufactures banknotes, had a profit of R100 million and was affected by lower banknote sales.

Despite the restrictions imposed by the lockdown, it delivered 892 million of the 974 million notes produced. The pre-tax profit fell to R 84 million from R 147 million previously, and pre-tax profit also decreased to R153 million from R189 million previously.

During the reporting period, Bank Note Company saw a significant decrease in the number of counterfeit funds caused by the pandemic as people changed transaction methods.

The bank, which measured the occurrence of counterfeit money at 5.68 parts per million, recorded it at 10.76 parts per million over the year, a 47% decrease in counterfeit occurrences.

See also | There is much less counterfeit money in SA – but that will probably not last long

(Compiled by Ntando Thukwana)

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