COMPANY NEWS IN BRIEF

AngloGold doubles dividend pay-outs

Gold miner AngloGold Ashanti said on Monday it would double its dividend pay-out ratio as profits soared and borrowings decreased on the back of stronger gold prices, sending its shares sharply higher.

The miner said it would now pay shareholders 20% of free cash flow before growth capital expenditure, up from 10%, and would make both annual and semi-annual dividend payments.

Higher precious metals prices, including gold's surge to record highs above US$2 000 an ounce earlier this year, have offered miners a lifeline after production disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"Doubling our dividend pay-out ratio demonstrates confidence in our ability to both improve direct returns to shareholders and to self-fund our growth projects and sustaining capital requirements," said AngloGold Ashanti interim chief executive officer Christine Ramon.

AngloGold, which has mines in several African countries including Ghana as well as in Australia and Brazil, said free cash flow nearly quadrupled year-on-year for the third quarter ended Sept. 30.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) during the quarter rose 72% to US$803 million from last year, with production rising 1% to 837 000 ounces despite pandemic-related disruptions and stoppages. - Nampa/Reuters

Aspen and J&J to manufacture vaccine

South African pharmaceutical company Aspen Pharmacare said on Monday it had reached a preliminary agreement with Johnson & Johnson to commercially manufacture its Covid-19 vaccine candidate, sending its shares higher.

The country's biggest drug maker said it had agreed to provide capacity required for the manufacture of J&J's vaccine candidate, which is still in clinical trials, at its Port Elizabeth facility.

The agreement with J&J will see Aspen perform formulation, filling and secondary packaging of the vaccine for the US firm, the company said.

Aspen's shares rose more than 4% on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange on the announcement. The company said it had invested more than 3 billion rand (US$184.2 million) in the Port Elizabeth facility.

"The production area where it is intended that the vaccine candidate will be manufactured has capacity to produce more than 300 million doses per annum," it added.

South Africa has recorded more than 726 000 coronavirus infections, the highest number on the African continent, and more than 19 400 deaths. - Nampa/Reuters

BNP profit falls less than expected

France's biggest bank BNP Paribas reported third-quarter net income fell less than expected, as trading revenue rose.

Bumper trading volumes have helped most major European banks show better-than-expected third-quarter earnings, along with a more optimistic outlook on loan losses caused by the financial fallout from Covid-19.

BNP Paribas reported quarterly net income of 1.89 billion euros (US$2.20 billion), down 2.3% from the same period a year ago. Revenue was broadly flat at 10.89 billion.

Analysts had forecast net income closer to 1.57 billion euros and revenue closer to 10.66 billion, according to the IBES estimate from Refinitiv.

Revenue at its corporate and institutional bank rose by 17.4%, while fixed-income trading revenue jumped by 36% "with a good level of client activity on the rate and forex markets".

Higher bond and equity underwriting revenue also propelled the results, as companies tapped the markets in order to strengthen their balance sheets. - Nampa/Reuters

DSM profit beats analysts’ expectations

Dutch speciality chemicals company DSM beat analysts' expectations for third-quarter core profit, as industrial demand for its plastics, fibres and other materials recovered from a coronavirus-driven slump.

DSM said, however, sales fell 4% year-on-year to 1.96 billion euros (US$2.28 billion) for the quarter ended Sept. 30, led by a 17% decrease in its materials division.

Revenue at the larger nutrition division remained stable, as the pandemic fuelled demand for DSM's vitamins and other food supplements.

"Conditions were overall good in Nutrition, with momentum in Materials improving," co-chief executive officers Geraldine Matchett and Dimitri de Vreeze said in a statement."Materials, whilst still impacted by Covid-19, showed an improving volume trend relative to the prior quarter, especially in September."

The recent surge in Covid-19 patients, however, make it impossible to say whether this improvement will last, DSM said, as it declined to give an outlook for its full-year results. - Nampa/Reuters

Fiat Chrysler faces up to US$840 in costs

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) disclosed it could face costs of up to 722 million euros (US$840 million) to resolve a Justice Department investigation into excess diesel emissions and as a result of higher fuel economy penalties.

The Italian-American company said the impact of a US appeals court ruling in August overturning the Trump administration’s July 2019 rule that suspended a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) regulation more than doubling penalties for automakers failing to meet fuel efficiency requirements could be significant.

FCA in a securities filing said the amounts “accrued could be up to 500 million euros (US$581 million) depending on, among other things, our ability to implement future product actions or other actions to modify the utilization of credits.”

In October 2019, FCA said it incurred a US$79 million US civil penalty for failing to meet 2017 fuel economy requirements after paying US$77.3 million for 2016 requirements. – Nampa/Reuters