South African mining mogul Patrice Motsepe is set to receive R1.07 billion ($69.6 million) in interim dividends from his stake in African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), a South Africa-based diversified mining corporation.
The interim dividend will be paid from the group’s retained earnings of about R34.44 billion ($2.24 billion), which have been accumulated since Motsepe founded the mining corporation in 1997 as South Africa’s first Black-owned mining company.
Since its inception about 25 years ago, ARM has evolved to become one of South Africa’s leading mining and minerals firms, with holdings in a diverse variety of mines including iron, coal, copper, gold, platinum and other precious metals.
Motsepe, who has been instrumental in the success of the South African miner, has a substantial 39.7-percent interest in the company, amounting to 89,092,411 shares.
At the end of the first six months of 2022, the miner’s headline earnings declined by 27 percent for the six months ending Dec. 31, 2021, from 5.04 billion ($330 million) in 2021 to R3.7 billion ($242 million).
The decline in earnings can be linked to lower average iron ore and palladium prices, as well as the rand strengthening against the U.S. dollar, resulting in a sharp drop in revenue from R9.8 billion ($641 million) to R7.7 billion ($503.5 million).
Despite a double-digit percentage reduction in income, the board of directors authorized the payment of an interim dividend of R12 ($0.7835) per share to shareholders, a 20 percent increase over the R10 ($0.6529 per share dividend given to shareholders in 2021.
According to the board’s decision, Motsepe, who owns 39.7 percent of the mining behemoth, will receive R1.07 billion ($69.6 million) in dividends from his stake in the diversified mining firm.
