Kingsgate Consolidated has posted a record annual profit and laid claim to two of the world’s best outcomes – one in safety and the other its dividend yield.

Profit from the group’s Chatree mine in central Thailand more than doubled from $32.5 million to $73.1 million. Higher gold prices on the group’s unhedged 132,628 ounces of production at a cash cost of $US335 an ounce provided the lift.

But it is the group’s safety record at Chatree and its dividend yield which stood Kingsgate apart from the rest of the industry in the June year.

There was no lost time incident at Chatree in the year, extending to seven years (13.8 million man hours) the time without such an incident. Kingsgate reckons that, according to public data, Chatree is the safest mine in the world.

Kingsgate’s managing director, Gavin Thomas, said apart from the kudos management could take from the safety record, it also reflected ”total acceptance” by the Thai workers of the safety regime.

”Thai culture has a lot to with it. They absorb information and learning. They are told to put a hard hat on and they put a hard hat on. They are told three people have to lift a bag up, and three people lift it,” he said.

The other world’s best outcome claimed by Kingsgate is its dividend yield of about 3.5 per cent (among gold producers at any rate). The final dividend is 20¢ a share. That is up from 15¢ a share previously and takes the annual dividend to 35¢ a share or a yield of 3.52 per cent.

Kingsgate is hunting for new assets before its eventual 51 per cent sell-down of its Chatree interest, which is required under Thai law.

Kingsgate is planning to achieve the sell-down through a float of the Thai operating subsidiary on the Thai stock exchange.

AT A GLANCE
Revenue $175m +54%

Profit $73.1m +125%

EPS 75.2¢ +46.5%

Dividend 35¢ +43.4%

Posted by Shayne Heffernan on Aug 30th, 2010and filed underASEAN News, Asia, Asia-Pacific Companies, Equities, Latest News, Markets, Thailand.You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0You can leave a response by filling following comment form or trackback to this entry from your site