Harmony passes interim dividend amid offshore expansion and capital outlay at home

HARMONY Gold passed the interim dividend after buying the Eva Copper prospect in Australia in December for $230m.

“No interim dividend was declared due to the allocation of capital towards near-term copper and growth projects,” the company said in its interim results published today.

In addition to the deal for Eva Copper – which also requires an estimated $600m in capital development as per the previous owner’s studies – Harmony announced two-year, R17bn outlay on South African capital projects. It is also weighing the development of its Mponeng Deeps project with a feasibility study due at the year-end.

A $170m cash payment was made to Australia’s Copper Mountain Mining Corporation for Eva Copper during the period which contributed towards an increase in net deb to R4.7bn as of end-December compared to R757m a year earlier.

“It is prudent to maintain a strong balance sheet and good liquidity. A decision has therefore been taken to not pay an interim dividend for this reporting period,” it said. The company paid a 40 cents/share interim dividend in 2022 and a 110c/share dividend the year before. Harmony’s dividend policy is to pay a return of 20% of net free cash generated

Harmony reported an 18% increase in headline share earnings of 293 South African cents a share for the six months ended December 31. The improvement in earnings was a result of a 5% lift in gold production to 740,655 oz and a higher gold price received which at R963,439 per kilogram was 12% above last year’s interim average.

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