MINING
Kumba’s big dividend a good sign for Anglo
The R5.1bn return to shareholders, the first since 2015, was a discretionary decision by the board
Kumba Iron Ore’s large and surprising dividend of R15.97 a share sent its shares 17% higher and underpinned the company’s attractiveness to majority shareholder Anglo American, which has cooled talk about disposing of its stake. The R5.1bn return to shareholders, the first since 2015, was a discretionary decision by the board after SA’s largest iron ore miner grew profit strongly on improved output and revenue. Anglo, which holds just less than 70% of Kumba, will be paid R3.57bn of that dividend, confirming the diversified miner’s decision to be less forthright about wanting to sell its stake as part of a massive restructuring. Anglo’s shares climbed more than 7% on Tuesday as investors started positioning themselves ahead of the diversified miner’s interim results on Thursday. "This should be a positive read-through to Anglo, which is expected to mark a return to dividends in the second half of this year, with an official policy to be announced on Thursday," said Investec. Kumba CE...
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