Harmony Gold Settles Claim With Lead Plaintiff Over Profit
Harmony Gold Mining Co., Africa’s third-biggest producer of the metal, said it settled with the lead plaintiff of a group that claimed the company overstated earnings in 2007.
The settlement is a “reasonable amount with which we’re comfortable,” Marian van der Walt, a spokeswoman for Johannesburg-based Harmony, said today by mobile phone, declining to disclose the details.
Harmony hasn’t admitted any liability in connection with the proposed settlement of the class action, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in May 2008, it said in a statement. The court will hold a hearing on Nov. 10 to rule on whether the agreement will be approved.
“A mediated settlement process was followed to avoid protracted and expensive litigation,” Harmony’s Chief Executive Officer Graham Briggs said in today’s statement.
The company dropped 1.1 percent to 92.70 rand by the 5 p.m. close of Johannesburg trading. The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index declined 3 percent.
Former Chief Executive Officer Bernard Swanepoel and Financial Director Nomfundo Qangule resigned in 2008 after the company said it overlooked about 250 million rand ($35 million) of costs.
To contact the reporter on this story: Carli Lourens in Johannesburg at clourens@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Viljoen at jviljoen@bloomberg.net
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