Good week

Six years of belt-tightening at the world’s biggest platinum miner, Anglo American Platinum, ended this week when CEO announced an annual dividend of 349c/share. He’s had to cut costs, pay down debt and eliminate almost 500,000 oz of loss-making production, but now, he says, “We’re more efficient, we’re more competitive and we’re generating better returns.” The dividend may encourage Amplats’s majority shareholder, Anglo American, to feel more generous towards its shareholders.

Chris Griffith