Perth-based engineering and development company GRD Ltd has announced it is undertaking a strategic review of the company and will also pay an unfranked interim dividend of six cents per ordinary share.
Perth-based engineering and development company GRD Ltd has announced it is undertaking a strategic review of the company and will also pay an unfranked interim dividend of six cents per ordinary share.
The company said the strategic review would include looking at capital management initiatives and the structure of the Global Renewables business in order to fully optimise it's opportunities going forward.
The dividend is payable in early July 2006 and represents a three cent dividend that was not declared for 2005, due to the ongoing review of GRD's holding in OceanaGold, and a three cent interim divided for 2006.
GRD chairman Richard Court said at the GRD Annual General Meeting today that the board had confirmed a policy of ensuring consistency in dividend return to shareholders.
"The board considers that dividends should be based on the GRD Minproc results since Global Renewables is a development company," he said.
"Allocation of around 50 to 60 per cent of GRD Minproc's profits is considered appropriate for return to shareholders by way of dividends. Accordingly, a three cent final divided for 2006 is planned," he added.
The company also confirmed that rectification of the fire damage at the Global Renewables' Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility has commenced and would take around five to six months to complete.
Current investigations have concluded that the fire, which broke out at about 8.30 pm on Friday 12 May, originated from mechanical failure in the conveyor system, not in the compost. The fire caused localised damage to the composting hall and the air reticulation systems. The sorting, percolation, biodigestion, maturation and refining circuits were not impacted.
The capital cost of the rectification is estimated at around $8 million.
Earlier this month, GRD sold down180 million shares in its New Zealand gold mining subsidiary OceanaGold, reducing its stake from 56.94 per cent to 6.94 per cent.
GRD appointed Macquarie Equity Capital Markets Ltd to undertake the sale.
At the time, GRD's chief executive Cliff Lawrenson said that the OceanaGold transaction provided GRD with significant scope to consider further development and capital management strategies.
Last month, GRD appointed former premier Richard Court as chairman, following the decision by Brettney Fogarty to step down from that role, though he remains a non-executive director.
At market close, shares in GRD were up 1 cent to $2.33.
Below is the full announcement:
GRD REINSTATES DIVIDEND
GRD Limited announced today that it would pay an interim 2006 dividend of six cents per ordinary share (unfranked), payable in early July 2006.
GRD is also undertaking a strategic review, including capital management initiatives and the structure of the Global Renewables business, to fully optimize GRD's opportunities going forward.
The dividend effectively represents a three cent dividend that was not declared for 2005, due to the ongoing review of GRD's holding in OceanaGold, and a three cent interim divided for 2006.
Richard Court, chairman of the GRD Board, said at the GRD Annual General Meeting today that the Board had confirmed a policy of ensuring consistency in dividend return to shareholders.
"The Board considers that dividends should be based on the GRD Minproc results since Global Renewables is a development company," he said.
"Allocation of around 50 to 60 per cent of GRD Minproc's profits is considered appropriate for return to shareholders by way of dividends. Accordingly, a three cent final divided for 2006 is planned," he added.
GRD is an Australian engineering and development company.
Engineering:
GRD Minproc (100 per cent) is a leading Australian engineering contracting business providing high value services and specialising in the design, procurement and construction of resource projects.
GRD Minproc has a $2.5 billion workbook in addition to a $0.5 billion preferred bidder pipeline of projects. The company's process engineering and project record are internationally recognised. GRD Minproc has completed over 300 feasibility studies and 200 major design and construction projects in 33 countries for companies such as BHP Billiton, De Beers, Anglo American, CVRD, and Gold Fields Limited.1
GRD Minproc was awarded the 2005 WA Engineering Excellence Award, International Projects and Exports, for the Kansanshi copper project in Zambia.
Development:
Global Renewables (100 per cent) owns and operates an urban waste treatment project incorporating the UR-3R Process. at Eastern Creek, Sydney. The Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility processes 175,000 tonnes of municipal solid waste per annum (11 percent of Sydney's waste) through integrated sorting, biological digestion and composting processes.2 The Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility is a public private partnership and operates under a 25 year contract with WSN Environmental Solutions. Global Renewables has technology licence arrangements with ISKA for the ISKA. Percolation and Sorain Cecchini Techno SRL (SCT) for resource separation and composting processes.
Global Renewables is preferred bidder for the Lancashire Waste PFI Project, which has an initial capital cost of around A$500 million and is designed to process more than 20 million tonnes of municipal solid waste under a 25 year A$6 billion revenue contract.
OceanaGold (6.9 per cent) is a major Australasian gold producer with a dominant position in two major historic goldfields and ownership of a modern day gold discovery in New Zealand. It is New Zealand's largest gold producer and has produced more than 2 million ounces of gold.
1 Projects include the Ravensthorpe nickel project, Telfer treatment plant, Kansanshi copper project, the Bogoso BIOX. gold project, the Niquel do Vermelho nickel project and the Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility.
2 Officially opened in September 2004, the Eastern Creek UR-3R Facility is designed to produce biogas sufficient to produce 17,000 megawatt hours of green energy (enough to power 2,250 households), 200,000 tonnes of Emission Reduction Units per annum (carbon credits equivalent to taking 30,000 cars off the road), and more than 20,000 tonnes of AS4454 certified organic growth media per annum, in addition to recyclable products (paper, glass,steel, plastics and aluminium). 1,500,000 tonnes of the Emission Reduction Units have been forward purchased by Mitsui & Co (Australia) Limited and BP Australia Ltd.
