M E D I A R E L E A S E
Gold Fields Limited
Reg. 1968/004880/06
24 St Andrews Road
Parktown, 2193
Postnet Suite 252
Private Bag X30500
Houghton, 2041
South Africa
Tel +27 11 644-2400
Dir +27 11 644-2460
Fa +27 11 484-0639
www.goldfields.co.za
Enquires
South Africa
Willie Jacobsz
Tel +27 11 644-2460
Fa +27 11 484-0639
North America
Cheryl A Martin
Tel +1 303 796-8683
Fa +1 303 796-8293
THE HARMONY BID HAS ALREADY DESTROYED
MORE THAN R7 BILLION IN SHAREHOLDER
VALUE FOR GOLD FIELDS AND HARMONY
SHAREHOLDERS.
Johannesburg, 16 November 2004: Since it was launched on
15 October 2004, the hostile bid by Harmony for 100% of the outstanding shares of Gold Fields has destroyed almost R7 billion in potential value for shareholders of Gold Fields and Harmony combined.
On 15 October, the last trading day before the launch of the hostile bid, the Gold Fields share price was R94.02. It has declined by 11% to R83.50 on Friday 12 November. Over the same period the Harmony share price has declined by 21% from R83.50 to R65.70.
Based on the actual share prices at the start and the end of this period the value leakage for Gold Fields shareholders amounts to US$462 million, and for Harmony shareholders to US$712 million. Using the spot exchange rate on 12 November, this translates into a loss of R2.8 billion for Gold Fields shareholders and R4.3 billion for Harmony shareholders, for a combined loss of R7.1 billion.
During the same period the North American peer group outperformed by a median of 12.6%, on the back of the stronger gold price. It follows that Gold Fields has underperformed the North American peer group by 19.1% and Harmony by 29.7% during this period.
Ian Cockerill, Chief Executive Officer of Gold Fields said: "In a rising gold market both Harmony and Gold Fields shareholders are suffering serious value loss as a result of this value destructive and ill conceived proposal by Harmony".
ends
In the United States, Gold Fields Limited ("Gold Fields") has filed a Solicitation/Recommendation Statement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on Schedule 14D-9 and holders of the Gold Fields Ordinary Shares and American Depositary Shares are advised to read it as it contains important information. Copies of the Schedule 14D-9 and other related documents filed by Gold Fields are available free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. Any documents filed by Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited, including any registration statement on Form F-4 (including any prospectus contained therein) and related exchange offer materials as well as its Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO, will also be available free of charge on the SEC's website.
Directors: C M T Thompson* (Chairman), A J Wright (Deputy Chairman), I D Cockerill+
(Chief Executive Officer),K Ansah
#
, G J Gerwel, N J Holland+
(Chief
Financial Officer), J M McMahon+
, G R Parker^
, R L Pennant-Rea+
, P J Ryan, T M G Sexwale, B R van Rooyen, C I von Christierson
*Canadian,
+British,
^American,
#
Ghanaian.
Corporate Secretary: C Farrel