Ann: Appendix 4D and Half Year Financial Report, page-73

A completely gutless shareholder return that pales in comparison to FY18 & FY19 of 76% and 94% shareholder distribution of NPAT. Elections, reservation scheme, falling coal price, economic instability and global geopolitical events are likely their reasons.

For FY18 and FY19 most of their special dividend/capital returns were paid in the full year (2H) reporting period, likely due to them knowing all the material facts for the full year as opposed to half the story at 1H.

They had the ability to pay that $2 dividend this half. Because they do not know how much they will spend on BB or the full impact of the falling coal prices in the 2H, they chose to be conservative. They are waiting to see how much they make for the full year and what cost they incur from reservation scheme and other factors before calculating their full pay-out amount/ratio. That is what I got from this report.

There is still no reason to hold onto that cash, and when full year results are known it would be logical to pay out 90%+ of NPAT for the full year and still retain substantial cash in reserve. Most of the BB will be completed by then, political risks will be known to their full extent and all global coal sanctions will be in effect.

We will see shareholders rewarded in line with profits. If distribution is in line with the prior HY/FY distribution ratio we should see strong dividends for the full year. 1H22 div was 8c vs 2H22 of 40c. Thats a 500% increase, so, if we increase 32c by 500% we get $1.60/s. More than doable as a FF dividend for the full year, even without any NPAT for the 2H counted in that mix. Special dividend would likely be extra. If they do not do this and they disappoint again, I suggest righteous indignation en masse at the Oct 2023 AGM.

BOD possibly wants to show some sort of income/dividend stability to increase the appeal of holding the company rather than blowing all their load at once. This however is not a good enough excuse to withhold from shareholders what is rightly theirs.