Royal Bafokeng Platinum (RBPlat) yesterday became the latest platinum group metals (PGM) producer to reward shareholders handsomely, after posting record profits and a robust operational performance.
RBPlat, which listed on the JSE a decade ago, declared an interim dividend of 535 cents a share during the half-year to the end of June, equating to R1.5 billion, on the back of strong metal price environment and a strong operational performance.
The company, which operates the Styldrift and the Bafokeng Rasimone Platinum Mine (BRPM) in North West, is on a positive trajectory after paying a maiden dividend of R1.5 billion in the year to the end of December 2020.
It declared revenue growth of 108% to R9.584 billion for the six months, supported by strong PGM basket prices and the growth in the business.
“Although our first-half production was restricted by the slow restart of operations resulting from the Covid-19 second wave and other operational challenges, we increased PGM production by 24.3 percent to 215 700 ounces of 4E,” RBPlat said.
The company said the BRPM made a contribution of 116,100 ounce of 4E production, 16.4% higher than a year earlier, while Styldrift’s production increased by 35% to 99,600 ounces of 4E.
RBPlat said platinum had contributed 22.2% to revenue from operations in the six months, down from 28.1% a year earlier, and rhodium had contributed 65.9%, up from 60.6% a year earlier.
