Northern Star’s record payoutNorthern Star Resources...

Northern Star’s record payoutNorthern Star Resources shareholders will collect a record dividend of 15c a share after the Super Pit owner rode a revenue surge off the back of stronger gold prices.Revenue for the first half was up 15 per cent from a year earlier to $2.25 billon as the price it collected for the precious metal jumped from $2513 an ounce in the first half of the previous financial year to $2873/oz in the six months to the end of December.Cash earnings rose 50 per cent to $701.7 million. Underlying earnings were 41 per cent higher at $889m.Managing director Stuart Tonkin said the results were set against a backdrop of cost pressures that remained prevalent across the industry, including higher royalties and fuel costs and a weaker Australian dollar.Cash operating costs rose from $1475/oz to $1588/oz.“This interim result is a glimpse of the cash-generating potential that our business is positioned for on a sustainable basis as we reach the halfway mark of our low-risk, five-year profitable growth strategy,” he said.Northern Star has stuck to full-year gudiance of between 1.6mo and 1.75moz, with production weighted to the second half.It sold 781,000oz of gold in the first half.