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South32 has declared a record interim dividend of $405 million (about R6 billion) on the back of a strong half-year performance.
The diversified mining group on Thursday reported a net profit of just over $1 billion for the six months ended in December – up from $53 million in the previous six months.
The group, which was spun out of BHP in 2015, further achieved a record operating margin of 44% and a significant, 638%, improvement in its underlying earnings - which was also $1 billion – following a broad recovery in commodity prices as well as substantial progress in the reshaping of the South32 portfolio in favour of greener commodities. This included the disposal of its loss-making South African mines in June last year.
The board resolved to pay the record $405 million ordinary dividend, equating to 8.7 US cents per share. This compares favourably with final and special dividend of 3.5 US cents and 2 US cents per share (respectively)which were declared for the year ended in June 2021.
"Our business is in excellent financial health and we have continued to reshape our portfolio," said South32 CEO Graham Kerr.
"Looking ahead, we are well positioned to capitalise on current market conditions as countries continue their economic recovery from Covid-19, and into the future as they invest in new infrastructure that is expected to see continued growth in demand for the metals critical for a low carbon future."
