Biggest dividend for Anglo

Platinum prices are languishing near decade lows, yet investors in the number one supplier of the metal haven’t had it this good for years.

Anglo American Platinum declared its biggest dividend since 2008 as the company reported full-year earnings that nearly doubled, thanks to a weaker rand and surging prices for sister metal palladium. The Johannesburg-based miner’s shares have risen 104 percent in the past 12 months.

While rivals such as Impala Platinum Holdings and Lonmin are also benefiting from higher prices for palladium and rhodium, which they dig up alongside platinum, Amplats is in a particularly strong position. The company resumed dividends last February after a six-year hiatus, during which it sold and wound down older, less profitable operations.

Palladium has surged 47 percent to successive records since the end of August. – Bloomberg.