Base Resources Ltd (LON:BSE) booked revenue of US$208mln during the year ended June 30, 2020, and has declared a maiden dividend of A$0.035per share.
The company said its mineral sands mining operation at Kwale in Kenya maintained operational continuity during the coronavirus crisis and achieved the upper end of production guidance.
Ongoing firm demand supported price improvement for ilmenite and rutile, and helped deliver overall net profits after tax of US$39.6mln.
The company also continued working on its Toliara development project in Madagascar.
“Kwale Operations has continued to perform strongly throughout the year resulting in Base Resources achieving the upper end of our production guidance, a particularly pleasing result in what was our first year of operations on the South Dune,” Base’s managing director Tim Carstens said in the results statement.
“As the current engine of our business, extending mine life at Kwale is a priority and commencement of a pre-feasibility study for mining the North Dune, which should be completed in early 2021, was significant in these efforts,” he added.
Broker Shore Capital commented: "Base turned in decent full-year FY2020 production and financials despite this being the first full year of mining at Kwale’s lower-grade South Dune. A very generous maiden dividend of A$0.035/share was declared, which the company’s board believes “strikes the right balance between delivering returns to shareholders, retaining balance sheet strength in uncertain times and allowing for the sensible progression of the Toliara Project as uncertainty resolves."
The shares rose 25% to 14.7p.