Last month's trading update meant much of the detail in Pan African Resources ' (PAF) preliminary results was already known to the market. But that didn't stop shares in the South African gold miner rising, after management decided a record year for production and profits should translate into a £16m final dividend payment.
The reasons for this super year - good head grades, a surge in production and a favourable rand gold price - have been documented in these pages, but the 12 months to June 2016 was also a period of considerable investment.
Unlike many of its peers, that has meant Pan African's year finished with a somewhat slender cash pile of £2.7m. However, the company also generated and raised enough cash to finance a £25.3m stake in its black economic empowerment shareholder, acquire the Uitkomst high grade thermal coal colliery for £5.7m, drill an attractive unmined pay channel at Evander, and commission a definitive feasibility study for a new tailings retreatment project at Elikhulu.
Analysts at Edison are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profit of £68.8m and 3.1p in the year to June 2017, up from £44.7m and 1.97p in 2016.
PAN AFRICAN RESOURCES (PAF) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 19p | MARKET VALUE: | £369m | |
| TOUCH: | 19p-19.3p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 25p | LOW: 6.8p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.3% | PE RATIO: | 13 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 7.8p | NET DEBT: | 11% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 101 | 42.2 | 2.0 | nil |
| 2013 | 134 | 54.7 | 2.6 | 0.80 |
| 2014 | 154 | 33.9 | 1.5 | 0.81 |
| 2015 | 141 | 15.8 | 0.6 | 0.53 |
| 2016 | 169 | 33.7 | 1.4 | 0.82 |
| % change | +20 | +113 | +120 | +55 |
Ex-div: 8 Dec Payment: 22 Dec | ||||
