Mining giant Petra Diamonds (PDL) might pay its shareholders a dividend one year ahead of schedule. As part of its 2014 full-year results, the company said it would consider bringing forward its 2016 deadline for a maiden dividend, but would wait to confirm its plans in a trading update at the end of January 2015.
The news came after adjusted cash profits (which exclude one-off charges and currency impacts) rose 47 per cent to $188m last year. This was the result of a 17 per cent increase in production volumes to 3.1m carats, which drove revenues up by a fifth to $472m. A stable diamond pricing environment also helped, as will a new three-year wage agreement with the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. The group said it’s still on track to meet its 5m carat production target by 2019.
After the period-end, the group recovered a 232 carat white diamond at Cullinan, South Africa. The stone should be sold in the October to December quarter, but as an indication of its value a 122 carat blue diamond recently recovered from the same site just sold for $28m.
Analysts at Investec expect pre-tax profits of $180.5m, giving EPS of 21¢.
| PETRA DIAMONDS (PDL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 196p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1.0bn | |
| TOUCH: | 196-196p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 220p | LOW: 105p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 116¢ | NET DEBT: | 20% | |
| Year to 30 June | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 164 | 69.0 | 22.7 | nil |
| 2011 | 221 | 64.4 | 12.8 | nil |
| 2012 | 317 | 8.4 | -0.5 | nil |
| 2013 | 393 | 74.0 | 10.4 | nil |
| 2014 | 472 | 124.4 | 12.8 | nil |
| % change | +20 | +68 | +23 | - |
£1 = $1.63 | ||||
