Pan African Resources plans to buy back up to R500 million of its own shares from October, after a surge in cash generation let it declare a record dividend for the year to June. Group chief executive Cobus Loots said the buy-back takes total shareholder returns for the period to 40% of cash from operations, the maximum allowed under the company's dividend policy.

The gold producer declared a final dividend of R1.58 billion, or 65 South African cents a share, on top of an interim payout of R280 million earlier in the year. That brings the total dividend for the 2026 financial year to R1.86 billion, equal to 77 SA cents a share.

The payout was funded by roughly R9 billion in cash generated during the year, enough to wipe out net debt of $150.5 million and leave the group with net cash of about R3 billion at the end of June. Production rose 38.6% to 272,310 ounces, while the average gold price received climbed 54.8% to $4,235 an ounce, the first full year since Pan African closed out its hedge book. Revenue more than doubled to $1.16 billion, and headline earnings per share nearly tripled.

Even with the dividend and buy-back, Pan African is lifting capital spending slightly to $330 million for the 2027 financial year as it continues funding growth projects, signalling it intends to keep investing in production even as it returns record cash to shareholders.