Thungela more than doubles interim dividend as coal prices rebound

Thungela Resources, the coal miner spun out of Anglo American in 2021, reported on 17 August 2026 that adjusted EBITDA for the six months to 30 June rose 91% year on year to R1.3bn, as a recovery in international coal prices and improved rail performance lifted earnings sharply from a weak 2025. Headline earnings per share climbed to R4.80 from R1.92, and net profit reached R1.4bn, up from a much smaller base a year earlier. The board declared an interim dividend of R5.50 a share, more than double the R2 paid at the same stage in 2025, for a total cash distribution of R773m.

From loss to rebound

The improvement marks a sharp reversal from 2025, when Thungela swung to a R7.1bn annual loss as weak coal prices and a firmer rand squeezed margins, and cut its total dividend for that year to R4 a share from R13 previously. Richards Bay benchmark coal averaged $127.87 a tonne in the first half of 2026 and Newcastle averaged $105.78, both up from their 2025 lows, while South Africa's rail logistics, historically a major constraint on export volumes, showed enough improvement to help lift group export sellable production by 6% to 8.5 million tonnes.

Australia adds resilience

Thungela's 2022 acquisition of a stake in Australia's Ensham coal mine continued to pay off, with production there up 37% and helping offset ongoing constraints in South Africa. The diversification has increasingly been credited with cushioning the group's earnings through the volatility of the past two years, even as its core Mpumalanga export business remains its largest single earner.

What it means for shareholders

The swing from a near R13-a-share dividend cut in 2025 to a doubled interim payout in 2026 illustrates how exposed thermal coal miners remain to swings in seaborne prices, in sharp contrast to the steadier upward trajectory of gold and platinum group metals miners over the same period. With net cash still comfortably positive, Thungela's board signalled confidence that the recovery in coal markets, and in Transnet's rail performance, was durable enough to support a materially higher payout than a year earlier.

Sources

• BigGo Finance: Thungela H1 EBITDA Nearly Doubles, Declares ZAR 5.50 Interim Dividend, 17 Aug 2026
• Investing.com: Thungela H1 2026 slides: profit surges 467% on coal price recovery, 17 Aug 2026
• Sunday Times: Thungela swings to R7.1bn loss as coal prices drop, 24 Mar 2026

Photo: Richards Bay Coal Terminal in South Africa, the export hub for Thungela Resources' coal shipments. Ossewa, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.