Kumba shares shoot up as it resumes dividend payments
Profit nearly doubled in the first half, as output improved and prices for iron ore increased
Kumba Iron Ore’s share price jumped 9% on Tuesday morning after it declared a R15.97 interim dividend, resuming returns to shareholders after a sharp increase in profits based on higher output and improved prices for its products.Kumba, SA’s largest iron ore producer and an Anglo American subsidiary, resumed its dividends after last paying them in 2015, said CEO Themba Mkhwanazi."We are pleased to be able to be pay a dividend because it shows a renewed confidence in our business and environment we are operating in. We are still conservative in our approach," he said during a media call.Kumba was confident that its empowerment credits of 29% black ownership stemming from existing and historical transactions were "defendable", he said when asked about potential risk to the company posed by the third iteration of the Mining Charter — which has yet to be implemented — that would increase ownership requirements to 30% from 26%."We are also confident that our rights, despite whatever may...
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