West African Resources Ltd (ASX: WAF) shares hit a new 12-month high on Thursday, after the company announced a record profit and a large special dividend.
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Maiden dividend a windfall for shareholders
The company is now trading with a dividend yield of more than 5% after announcing it would pay a 20 cent per share, unfranked dividend to its shareholders.
The record date for the dividend is 18 September, with the dividend to be paid on 7 October.
West African Resources shares hit a fresh 12-month high of $4.06 on the news before settling back to be 4.7% higher at $3.96.
The gold miner said it had achieved records across the board in its first half, with revenue of $1.46 billion and a profit after tax of $437 million.
The company had $876 million in cash and 42,453 ounces of unsold gold bullion at the end of June.
Production for the full year came in at 232,905 ounces of gold.
West African Executive Chairman Richard Hyde said:
WAF delivered an outstanding result for the first half of 2026, with the Group's first full six months of combined production from Sanbrado and Kiaka. The Group continued to generate strong profit margins from 232,905 gold ounces produced and 214,883 ounces sold at a realised sales price of US$4,744/oz and an AISC of US$1,823/oz. With two large, low-cost and long-life gold production centres at Sanbrado and Kiaka, WAF is positioned to build on its performance through the second half of 2026 and beyond. This is underpinned by the updated 10-year production outlook released on 31 March 2026.
Mr Hyde said the company also intended to accelerate its debt repayments over the next 12 months.
The company had $388.1 million in debt at the end of June.
West African Resources was also planning more than 100,000 metres of exploration drilling for the remainder of 2026.
The company's guidance for the full year is for production of 430,000 to 490,000 ounces of gold.
Major expansion plans in the wings.
Previous announcements indicate West African Resources is targeting an average of more than 533,000 ounces of gold production per year from 2026 to 2035, with annual production to peak at 569,000 in 2030.
An upcoming drill program is planned to target mineralisation beneath the current Kiaka open-pit reserve.
The company added:
The … mineralisation at Kiaka remains open at depth, with a significant proportion of ounces located below the planned pit design and currently classified as Inferred Mineral Resources. The program is designed to assess the potential for open pit expansion or the development of a large‐scale underground operation following completion of the open pit.
