Impala Platinum announced on Friday it was expecting headline earnings per share for the six months to December 2005 to be between 55 percent and 75 percent higher than a year earlier.

The platinum miner said this was mainly due to stronger dollar metals prices.

However, basic earnings per share for the period under review are expected to be between 30 percent and 50 percent lower than the half year to December 2004, which included the profit from the sale of the Lonplats shareholding.

Group financial results are expected to be published on or about February 18, 2006.

Implats shares rose 1.26 percent on the JSE on Friday.

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