Royalties plunge at Anglo Pacific

Anglo Pacific, the natural resources royalties company, said income from royalties plunged in the first half but upped its dividend nonetheless.

The firm operates by acquiring a percentage of sales revenue from mining projects, without any liability for production costs or capital expenditure.

In the first half of 2012 its stakes netted the firm £6.9m, compared with £16.3m the year before.

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The company blamed operational issues and bad weather, which it said hit royalty income from its Kestrel project in Australia.

"The level of production output on the group's private royalty ground at Kestrel recovered in the second quarter and should continue in the second half," said Chairman Peter Boycott.

"We are also encouraged by the progress made at a number of the group's development royalties, which should bring forward future anticipated cash flows."

Anglo increased it interim dividend by 4.7% to 4.45p per share and added that with the uncertain outlook for parts of the world economy, favourable conditions existed for acquiring additional royalties.