Anglo American Platinum to Exit with $852 Million Payout Amidst Profit Decline
Anglo American Platinum Ltd. (Amplats), a subsidiary of Anglo American Plc, has announced a final dividend of 16.5 billion rand ($852 million) as part of preparations for Anglo American's exit from the company. The payout includes an additional cash distribution of 15.7 billion rand.
This will reduce Amplats' net cash position to 1.1 billion rand ahead of the demerger scheduled for June. "For 2025, we expect our assets to generate cash and be on a cash neutral basis," said Chief Financial Officer Sayurie Naidoo.
Anglo American initiated the exit from Amplats in May 2023, as part of a restructuring strategy in response to an unsolicited takeover offer from BHP Group. The company has since sold off part of its stake to increase Amplats' free float.
"Significant progress" has been made towards the demerger, according to Anglo, with shareholder approval sought at the annual general meeting on April 30. Chief Executive Officer Duncan Wanblad stated that the unbundling remains on schedule, with Anglo aiming to reduce its Amplats holding from 67% to 19.9% before divesting the remaining stake "responsibly over time."
Amplats intends to establish a secondary listing in London to broaden its investor base and minimize capital outflow. "The slowdown in the shift to electric vehicles, asset quality, and limited new platinum-group metals supply have created a lot of interest" among prospective shareholders, commented CEO Craig Miller.
Amplats' profit declined by 45% to 7.1 billion rand in 2023, the third consecutive year of earnings decline. Palladium and rhodium prices fell by 24% and 30%, respectively.
Amplats plans to achieve cost savings of 12 billion rand in 2023 and an additional 4 billion rand in 2024. It has also cut approximately 15% of its permanent workforce since the beginning of 2023.