Kazakhmys chairman nets £833m from share sale

Kazakhmys chairman Vladimir Kim has sold about 11% of the FTSE 100-listed copper mining company's stock, pocketing a whopping £833m.

Kazakhmys chairman Vladimir Kim has sold about 11% of the FTSE 100-listed copper mining company's stock, pocketing a whopping £833m.

He sold about 58.9m shares at 1,423p a time, leaving him with just under 150m shares in the company, or 28%.

'The transaction enables Mr Kim to diversify his investment portfolio whilst retaining a significant long-term shareholding in Kazakhmys,' the company said as it announced the share sale.

Subscribe to MoneyWeek

Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE

Get 6 issues free
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/mw70aro6gl1676370748.jpg

Sign up to Money Morning

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter

Sign up

He sold the shares to the government, which now owns 26% of the company. Kazakhmys owns copper mines across Kazakhstan and also operates coal and gold mines, a power plant and an oil project.

Kim is selling at a time when Kazakhmys shares have climbed more than 40% in the past year.

In August, it said it remains positive on the copper market after an improvement in prices for the red metal helped it post a sharp rise in revenues and earnings in the six months to June 30.

Revenues climbed to $1.52bn from $1.12bn over the same period a year ago, while underlying profits were up to $696m from $269m. Average copper prices climbed by 73% to $6,981.