Sibanye-Stillwater withholds final dividend as it plunges into loss
The company has opted to issue shares to its investors in lieu of a dividend as it beds down a number of costly acquisitions
Sibanye-Stillwater withheld its final dividend for the first time as it posted a deep plunge into an annual loss and ballooning debt, and instead opted to issue shares to its investors as it bedded down a number of costly acquisitions. Sibanye, which had boasted of setting itself apart from its peers by paying industry-leading dividends, reported an attributable loss of R4.4bn for the year to end-December compared with attributable earnings of R3.5bn a year earlier. "In the near term, cash preservation is prudent and as a result no final dividend is being declared," it said. Sibanye will issue four shares for every 100 shares held by investors in lieu of a dividend. At the half way mark of 2017, it withheld its interim dividend and gave investors two shares per 100 held. Sibanye’s cash holdings at the end of the year fell by nearly two-thirds to R2.2bn from R6.5bn the year before, primarily because of a R2.2bn loan repayment. Sibanye has embarked on an aggressive growth strategy in ...
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