9/16/2026

speaker
Kwibus
Chief Executive Officer

Good morning to all of you and welcome to our 2026 final results presentation. Thank you very much for taking time out of your schedules to join us this morning. We will keep the presentation fairly brief with an opportunity for questions afterwards. Joining me in presenting today will be Marileen Kok, our Financial Director. A special word of thanks to the Finance Department and also to the rest of the amazing Pan-African team for the excellent work in putting these results together. You are welcome to refer to our SENS R&S announcements and to the supplementary information available on the Pan-African website, should you require detail not dealt with in today's presentation. Please note the disclaimers and information on forward-looking statements on slides 2 and 3. Reflecting on the last year, Pan African could not have chosen a better time to be a gold miner, and furthermore to expand and increase our gold production by almost 40%. We have again made excellent progress in our strategy of positioning ourselves as a safe and sustainable high margin and long life gold producer with very attractive future prospects. Pan African has the ability to continuously grow production via organic projects in the next years, something most larger peers cannot. The operations we commissioned over the last years have assisted in transforming the company It is however not the end in terms of growth and I look forward on elaborating on some of our near term and longer dated expansion initiatives later in the presentation. It is a pleasure to present this excellent set of results. However, I am even more excited about our future and also as importantly continuing to make a tangible and real positive difference to all stakeholders in the regions where we operate. A lot has been said about the gold price and we have to give credit to the rise in the fortunes of the yellow metal which is reflected in this set of results. Having been in this business for some time, it does feel like the gold price at current levels is well supported, with a general consensus view that there is likely to be further price upside in the years ahead. As I said, it is a pleasure presenting this set of results. Some of the highlights over the last year include Record gold production, record earnings and a very significant increase in our proposed record final dividend. Our statement of financial position is now completely de-geared as anticipated with an attractive and growing net cash balance on hand. We moved to the London main market and were included in a 4250 index. Pan African is now one of the largest gold miners listed in London. We've completed the acquisition of Emerson Resources, the consolidation of Tennant Creek and listed on the ASX. Now with the ability to use our paper to grow further in Australia. Pan African is incredibly well positioned to capitalize on current gold prices and our increasing production profile. And I look forward to sharing some thoughts and further detail on many of our initiatives and plans in the next slides. We will start with Powered African's health and safety performance, obviously critical in our business, and then provide an overview of the group and our operating environment, some key features from the year with detail and asset performance, as well as our cost, production, and capital outlook. We will highlight some achievements in terms of renewable energy and ESG, before allowing Marileen the opportunity to analyze elements of the group's financial performance for the year. The presentation will then conclude by outlining focus areas in the year ahead. If we then proceed to slide number six, our safety performance and our journey to zero harm. We continue to focus on safety initiatives and interventions and on maintaining an industry-leading record. We can also celebrate a number of safety milestones achieved during the reporting period. I would like to specifically mention the achievements of our surface business, now including tenant, with these operations again achieving zero lost time and reportable injuries for the year. Slide number eight, I believe Pan African offers a compelling investment proposition. We operate a well diversified portfolio of producing gold assets in two jurisdictions with outstanding mining pedigrees. We have a high margin and stable operating base generating very attractive cash flows growing ever closer to 300,000 ounces of annual gold production. We have grown production by almost 40% in the last year driven primarily by the ramp up of MTR and tenant mines with further production growth anticipated in the next years. Our assets are long life and the group has a huge reserve and resource base for further expansion with some very exciting projects such as Royal Sheba which we are now developing and also Poplar We have a proven track record of project delivery, excellent capital allocation and an attractive dividend, now also an interim dividend. And we have the ability to leverage the existing portfolio for further attractive growth. No need for us to go out and buy expensive assets, with high valuations at this juncture. Slide nine, the proof is in the pudding, or in the numbers in this case. An investment in Pan African in 2009, when the group in its current form came into being, would have increased some 70 fold, versus a dollar gold price increase, also attractive, of around five times. You also would have received an attractive dividend over the period, further increasing returns on Pan African stock. The company is now well covered by analysts and we have a diversified and supportive shareholder base. Slide number 10. We have built a unique portfolio of surface remining and underground assets. The addition of MTR and tenant means that we now have three large mining complexes in South Africa and one in Australia, all contributing towards the material increase in gold production in the years ahead. Surface operations reduce unit costs and turn legacy liabilities into profits. Whilst the underground mines provide long life of mines, solid returns on investment as a result of a large sunk capital base and also attractive optionality, which we are bringing to account in a circumspect and considered manner. Always thinking about the best way to allocate capital and generate sustainable attractive returns for our shareholders. Slide 11 We have now successfully transitioned the business to be focused on long-life, low-cost surface remining assets. Going forward, we expect approximately 60% of our production from surface, and certainly the bulk of our earnings also. Slide number 12, a bit more detail on our current portfolio of assets. I think what is very helpful is that all of our operations now have extended lives, with the shortest life being the BTRP at five years. That excludes the out-development of Royal Sheba, which will add decades of life to that asset. Slide number 13, our operating environment. We continuously seek ways of making our business less susceptible to adverse external impacts in South Africa and also now in Australia. We have definitely seen a rise in resource nationalism globally with the trend set to continue. Despite challenges, South Africa and Australia are generally stable and supportive of long-term value creation for shareholders and other stakeholders also. At Panafrican Resources we characterise our labour relations as constructive and stable, underpinned by a proactive, consultative approach with recognised unions and structured engagement forums. Panafrican has in the past consistently pursued longer-term collective agreements and we have multi-year wage agreements in place at most operations. Some of the other focus areas include employee health and engagement initiatives. We are also very proud of our interactive smartphone app which we are currently implementing for all of our employees and for most major contractors, creating a unique employee value proposition for a more engaged workforce. Improved productivity and safety are the main drivers behind the app. Pan African's track record demonstrates that we can operate and grow in South Africa and do so very successfully. Our experienced Australian team will ensure the same success in that jurisdiction. We have found Australia's Northern Territory Government very welcoming and supportive of our operation. It's a great place to do business and we look forward to expanding our activities there. If we then proceed to key production, cost and financial features from the year on slide 15. Gold production was up some 40%. Our final production number was marginally shy of 275,000 ounces. However, if we annualize the second half performance, it was almost 290,000 ounces, demonstrating the potential of our suite of assets. We are expecting production for the next financial year to be even closer to the 300,000 ounce mark or more. Our oil and sustaining costs, despite inflationary pressures and a stronger RAND, came in within the guided range. Costs were impacted by employee option expenses as well as increased royalties and the processing of third party material. A great financial performance and a number of records, which Marileen will elaborate on. Despite all of the growth and capital reinvestment, we are increasing our total dividend for the year by almost 110%, having also initiated an interim payment earlier in the year. Slide 16 demonstrates how nicely we have expanded margins in recent years, now with meaningful contributions from MTR and Tenant Mines. Slide 18, we believe PanAfrican has a record second to none in terms of conceptualizing, construction and operation of tailings retreating projects, now complemented by tenant mines also. These long life assets form the cornerstone of our business. and we have further room to grow in this space, detailed in the next slides. We are able to generate excellent returns on these projects at gold prices quite a bit lower than those prevailing at present. If we then move on to more detail on the performance per operation, starting with Elekulu on slide 19. Clearly a flagship asset for the group, 8 years of production remaining, producing at just over $1,200 per ounce for the year, and currently the lowest cost operation in the group. Hilikulu delivered an excellent performance for the year, production up 14%. The plant feed for the year came exclusively from the Lesley Bracken tailings facility, where good mining and blending discipline supported both grade and metallurgical recovery. The asset generated more than $170 million of EBITDA for the year, more than double that of the previous financial year. The construction of the Winkelhuk pump station is now also nearing completion, ahead of when required. This will enable us to feed material from both Lesley Bracken and Vinkelhoek in the next years. The extensive sonic drilling completed at Vinkelhoek gives us much better geological and grade control information ahead of that transition. Looking forward, we expect another great performance and clearly excellent cash flow generation in the current gold price environment from Elekulu. Slide number 20, the BTRP, another good performance from our first gold tailings re-treatment plant commissioned in 2013. As previously flagged, we have extended the life of this operation from surface remining only to now five years remaining. A flotation circuit to further improve recoveries, reduce costs and increase production will also be commissioned by December. The BTRP will therefore continue to form an integral part of Pan African Staling's retreating story for many more years. Over the longer term, BTRP's future is bound to that of our Shiba Fault production strategy as the operation will be converted to a hard rock circuit with the addition of an upfront crushing system. That brings us to slide 21, Dealing with Royal Shiba. We are very excited to now be executing into what will become one of South Africa's first new gold mines in many years. Royal Sheba is an important part of our strategy to extend and diversify Barberton's production base. The key regulatory approvals have been obtained, the mining contractor has been appointed, and long lead equipment is now on order, with the first development blast scheduled for early in 2027. What makes Royal Sheba attractive is that this is a shallow, free-milling ore body, close to existing infrastructure and with significant geological continuity still to be tested at depth. The current mine plan targets a total of approximately 200,000 ounces of gold, or around 40,000 ounces per year at steady state. The new financial year project budget is approximately $15 million, of which $8 million is project capital and $7 million relates to development. Importantly, the current resource base case is not where we see the ultimate potential ending. We are investigating a backfill strategy that could allow extraction around historical stopes and pillars and increase the mine plant target to approximately 285,000 ounces. There is an additional strategic benefit in that using BTLRP tailings as underground vacful could reduce surface deposition requirements and potentially facilitate retreatment of the Sheba dormant and Camelot tailings facilities. So, in addition to being a new underground production source, Royal Sheba could also be an enabler of a more integrated Sheba BTRP production and rehabilitation strategy. MTR on slide 22. As previously reported, we successfully completed the CIL and reactor expansion in December 2025, with the plant now comfortably treating one million tons of feedstock per month. Production from MTR was up almost 70%, with the anticipated production pickup in the second half realizing exactly as anticipated, and delivering adjusted EBITDA of $156 million for the year. Going forward, MTR should deliver 55,000 to 60,000 ounces of gold production annually. Now, we have to flag again that production will be lower in the first three months of the new financial year as we process the remainder of the low-grade, lower-recovery calcine material. This is a localised feed issue rather than a structural concern for the operation. I am pleased to report that we are on schedule as far as this is concerned. We have also completed the construction of a 3 megalitre water treatment plant on site and should start construction of a 20 megawatt solar facility in the next year. On slide 23, again important to emphasize the socio-economic and environmental benefits of the project. Concurrent rehabilitation is in progress. We are uplifting local communities, providing much needed economic and employment opportunities, and working with law enforcement to eradicate illegal mining. Slide 24, tenant mines in Australia. Tenant Mines should be viewed as a new Pan-African operating hub, rather than simply the Noble's operation. We entered a historically exceptional gold field in a Tier 1 mining jurisdiction, built and commissioned the Noble's plant in less than a year, and we now control approximately 1,700 square kilometers across the Tenant Creek mineral field. The district is particularly attractive because it combines known high-grade deposits with relatively limited modern exploration adepts. Less than 8% of historical drilling extends below 150 metres. We already have the central processing infrastructure, an experienced operating team and multiple potential feed sources around that infrastructure. Our strategy is therefore very much a hub and spoke model to develop the best deposits in the right sequence and use common processing and regional infrastructure whenever possible. Nobles provides the immediate gold production platform, while White Devil significantly strengthens the near-term feed profile. Beyond that we also have Juno Golden 40 and other gold opportunities and the substantial Warago Copper Gold Resource. The objective is not simply to maximise production as quickly as possible. It is to sequence the portfolio in the most capital efficient manner and create a long life Australian business. Slide 25 Emerson Acquisition and ASX Listing The Emerson transaction, completed in early July, was strategically important because it consolidated our ownership of the principal Tennant Creek assets at exactly the point where we are beginning to invest more significantly in the district. Moving from the previous joint venture structure to 100% ownership gives us much greater control over capital allocation, mine sequencing and exploration profiles and priorities. It also removes a number of JV-related costs and economic leakage and means that future exploration success accrues fully to Pan African and to our shareholders. Following the transaction, we control a dominant land position of approximately 1,700 square kilometers in what remains a very underexplored mineral field, as I've said. The transaction was deliberately structured to preserve the strength of our balance sheet while giving former Emerson shareholders continued exposure to the upside through Panafrican. The associated ASX listing is also strategically useful. We now have a natural Australian shareholder base and access to a capital market with a deep understanding of Australian and other mining assets. Most importantly, the acquisition gives us the ability to make district level decisions rather than JV level decisions. This is particularly relevant as we optimise White Devil, Juno, Golden Forty, Warago and the broader exploration portfolio over the coming years. Slide 26, Tennant Mines operating performance. FY26 was effectively the first operating year at Tennant and we produced just over 32,000 ounces while establishing the operation and progressively replacing lower grade crown pillar stockpile material with mined open pit ore. The ramp up was slower than initially anticipated, principally because of the lower grade of the historical stockpile and the time required to establish sufficient higher grade mining sources, as well as commissioning constraints on the dry stack tailing circuit. A number of processing modifications are now underway, including a fixed crushing circuit, secondary ball mill and belt filtration as additional capacity for dry stack tailings. These projects are aimed at improving reliability, throughput and unit costs. The most important change to the outlook, however, is White Devil. The current open pit envelope contains more than 3 million tons at 3.8 grams per ton or approximately 350,000 ounces and remains open at depth and a long strike. The technical work completed on White Devil has materially increased our confidence in the deposit as the principal high-grade feed source for approximately the next six years. That allows us to take a much more measured approach to the development of the Juno and Golden Forty undergrounds. Rather than developing two underground mines concurrently, with White Devil we can phase that capital over a longer period. The result is a lower risk and substantially more capital efficient development strategy, while preserving Juno and Golden Forty as future high-grade growth options. Our near-term objective is therefore to establish Tennant as a reliable 50,000 ounce per year production platform and then grow from that base as the broader portfolio is developed over the medium term. Slide 27, the Evanda Underground. Evanda was one of the standout operations in the last year with production increasing almost 70% to 47,000 ounces and underground recovered grade increasing to around 11 grams per tonne. The investment made over the last several years is now translating into operational performance. The sub-vertical hoisting system is operating at design capacity and has fundamentally improved underground logistics by replacing approximately four kilometers of conveyor handling. Our focus is now on increasing productive face time as mining moves deeper. This includes additional underground transport infrastructure and the phase transition from pneumatic drilling to hydropower equipment using localised power packs. Higher drilling rates shorten the production cycle and become increasingly valuable as travelling distances increase. Geologically, we continue to be encouraged by the Kimberley Reef at Evanda. Development on 24 level has demonstrated persistent high-grade mineralization, whilst long-inclined borehole drilling into the 25 level horizon has confirmed the down-dipping continuation of the high-grade pay chute. This provides confidence in the transition from 24 to 25 level and allows us to optimize the decline and future stoping layouts. Importantly, the production profile shown here is the current scheduled base case. It excludes potential extension into 26 level and other areas within the existing H shaft infrastructure. We therefore continue to see meaningful upside beyond the current reserve-backed production profile for Evanda. Slide 28, Barberton Mines. Barberton underground production increased by approximately 5%, driven principally by an excellent performance from Fairview, where production increased 17% to almost 48,000 ounces. Fairview is a good illustration of why we continue investing in these very mature ore bodies. Development of the MRC remains central to Fairview's long-term production profile, and the last year again demonstrated the exceptional quality of this ore body. Mining has progressed into additional high-grade platforms, materially improving flexibility and reducing reliance on single production areas. The mining platforms achieved grades in excess of 20 grams per tonne across the MRC and Rosita systems. At the MRC specifically, the 263 platform has delivered mining grades above 30 grams per tonne, with local areas exceeding 50 grams per tonne, demonstrating that very high-grade chutes continue within the ore body at depth. Rosita has become an increasingly important contributor to the mining flexibility and high-grade production at Fairview. Development is progressing on the 50 and 56 level elevations Opening additional mining fronts and improving access to the ore body. Underground sampling and production have confirmed the high grade character of the Rossiter with ore delivered at grades above 20 grams per ton. The MRC continues to produce exceptional grades while the revised mining approach on Rossiter has reduced dilution and delivered very high grade plant feed. This is particularly encouraging given Fairview's operating history and it demonstrates that these ore bodies continue to perform extremely well after more than a century of mining. At the same time, we are investing in the infrastructure required to sustain that performance. The 3-shaft winder upgrade improves ore handling logistics, while development of the trackless ramp alongside 3-decline provides improved access to the deeper portions of the MRC. Exploration drilling remains focused on the downdrip extensions of both the MRC and Rosita, so we are continuing to replace depletion as we mine. Fairview now has a 23 year life of mine and together with Royal Sheba it provides a very strong foundation for Barberton's long term production. Slide 29, Sheba and Consort Our smaller Barberton underground operations had a more difficult financial year with lower production at both Sheba and Consort. At Sheba the principal issue was lower head grade from the ZK ore body rather than an absence of geological potential. We are streamlining the mining and processing configuration and undertaking plant optimization to improve throughput and recovery. Importantly, underground drilling has confirmed the down-drip extension of the ZK ore body, including some exceptionally high-grade intersections. One of the more notable results has been an intersection of up to 3 meters at 370 grams on 38 level elevation. As always, with very high-grade barbiturne intersections, individual results should not be viewed in isolation, but they do demonstrate the exceptional tenure that the ZK system can contain. The development strategy is therefore aimed at gaining access to the deeper continuation of the ore body rather than simply optimizing the currently available stopes. Continued development and drilling should progressively provide additional mining platforms and allow better grade blending, which isn't important given the FY26 head grade challenge. At CONSORT, the focus has been on an operational turnaround following the rehabilitation of the PC shaft infrastructure. That work has restored access to the 36 to 45 level areas where higher grading mining blocks were previously constrained by infrastructure and ground conditions. Development is now focused on high grade remnant blocks and structurally controlled ore chutes identified from underground sampling and historical production records. Now SHIBA and CONSORT are relatively small operations in the group context, but they contain very high-grade mineralization and existing infrastructure. The objective is therefore to extract maximum value from that installed infrastructure through selective, disciplined mining rather than chasing volumes. What is encouraging at Barberton is that we are seeing high-grade continuity across all three of our principal mining areas. Slide number 31, the section dealing with oil and sustaining costs. More than 90% of our portfolio are produced at an oil and sustaining cost of $1,700 per ounce. Slide 32, our production guidance for FY27 is 280,000 ounces to just over 300,000 ounces for the year, with production skewed to the second half. similar to what was the case last year. This is principally as a result of treating the calcine material at MTR in H1, accessing white devil properly in H2 at Tennant, and then also some higher grades forecast later in the financial year at Evander. Slide 33 illustrates that our cost performance continues to be very much in line and better than the average for the global sector, with most producers having experienced significant cost pressure in the last couple of years. Slide 35 Group Capital Projects We continue to invest into our assets and into growth. FY27 Group Capital is approximately $330 million, representing a significant but deliberate investment year, with expenditure focused on increasing production, extending mine lives, improving operating efficiencies, and advancing our highest priority growth projects. Tenant Mines is the largest growth investment area, with capital focused on White Devil and Nobles development, processing upgrades and exploration. White Devil is being prioritized as the principal high-grade feed source, whilst initial box-cut development preserves the option to progressively bring the high-grade underground deposits into production. In East South African operations, a significant portion of capital is directed towards extending and strengthening our existing underground production base. At Evander, this includes development and infrastructure for the deeper 24 and 25 level mining areas, while at Barberton, the major growth investment is in the Royal Sheba and Western Cross ore bodies, together with infrastructure and exploration around the high-grade MRC, Rossiter and ZK ore bodies. At our tailings operations, capital is predominantly aimed at protecting and enhancing these long-life, low-cost production platforms. This includes the West Wits Pit deposition infrastructure and the milling circuit at MTR, completion of the Vinkelak feed infrastructure at Elekulu and the BTRP flotation circuit. Importantly, most of the capital is directed towards assets and projects that should provide the group with new ore sources, longer vine lives, improved processing performance, and future production growth. On the next slides, it's great to discuss some further near-term growth opportunities. Slide 37. Soweto is the logical next step in the development of our West Rand tailings business and potentially extends the MTR platform well into the future. The definitive study, completed in June, considers an integrated 600,000 tonne per month circuit adjacent to MTR, treating more than 108 million tonnes of mineral reserves, with a further 25 million tonnes available for potential conversion. The key to the project is integration rather than duplication. We can use existing MTR infrastructure for elution, carbon regeneration, electrowinning and smelting, which reduces capital and shortens the construction schedule compared with a completely stand-alone operation. The current plan envisages approximately 560,000 ounces over 15 years, producing 35,000 to 40,000 ounces per annum. At a $3,550 per ounce gold price, the project generates a post-tax NPV of approximately $109 million, an IRR of approximately 30%, and a payback of around three years following commissioning. We have deliberately value engineered the project to a $216 million upfront capital bill. The environmental and water use approval processes are progressing, as is work on deposition and pipeline servitudes. Once these matters are dealt with, we will be in a position to make a final investment decision. Strategically Soweto is an attractive proposition because it combines additional low-risk gold production, utilization of infrastructure we already own, and the progressive rehabilitation of another substantial historical tailings footprint. Slide 38 Tenant Mines Organic Growth We are significantly increasing the exploration intensity across the consolidated Tennant Creek Tenier, with the objective of both extending known deposits and generating the next generation of mineable targets. The FY26 regional program contained high-resolution aeromags, 3D magnetic inversion modelling and geological interpretation, and has already generated more than 10 priority targets for follow-up. At the known deposits, drilling is focused on White Devil, Juno, Golden Forty and soon also Chariot, both to improve confidence in the existing mineral resources and to test strike and depth extensions. White Devil is particularly important because the current open pit resource remains open along strike and at depth. Therefore, the current mine design should not necessarily be regarded as the ultimate geological limit of the deposit. We have the plant and the land position. The exploration program is now about systematically demonstrating how much more of the Tennant Creek mineral field can ultimately feed that infrastructure, which includes also the feasibility on Warrego, detailed on slide 39. Slide 40, Poplar. Poplar is one of the most significant opportunities in the South African portfolio. It contains a mineral resource of approximately 28.7 million tonnes at 7 grams per tonne for 6.5 million ounces, making it one of the largest unmined gold resources remaining in the Wits Basin. What makes it particularly interesting is its depth. The Kimberley Reef starts at approximately 500 metres below surface and extends to around 1200 metres, which is relatively shallow by WITS standards. This is also not a conceptual geological target, as the ore body has an extensive historical drilling database that gives us a strong foundation for the current technical work. We are updating the previous pre-feasibility work to determine the optimal access and mining configuration for a potential operation producing approximately 100,000 ounces per year. The concept contemplates two twin shafts and conventional breast mining. ESG on slide 42. We continue to be very proud of our achievements on this front, particularly on progress with renewable energy, water treatment and social projects. We really do make a positive difference where we operate. The MyPAR app on slide 43, rolling this out to all of our employees and major contractors, part of our focus on building a safe, high performance and engaged workforce. To elaborate further on our renewable energy roadmap on slide 44, we are targeting more than 60% renewable energy in the next years. I will now hand over to Marileen who will provide an overview of the financial results for the year.

speaker
Marileen Kok
Financial Director

Thank you Kwibus. The 2026 financial year was indeed a year of records for the Group, also from a financial perspective. The Group's market profile changed during the year with a move to the main board of the LSE in October 2025 and inclusion in the FTSE 250 index and the ASX listing in June 2026. Slide 46 highlights some of the salient features from the financial results. Revenue increased by 114% year-on-year to $1.1 billion with the group benefiting from the record high spot gold price throughout the year. The average US dollar gold price received increased by 55% with a 38% increase in gold sold for the year. The group was unhedged throughout the year and received the full benefit of the higher gold price. The increase in revenue, together with the group's continuous focus on cost discipline, resulted in a 169% increase in adjusted EBITDA and a 152% increase in attributable earnings. Headline earnings increased by 207% to US$358 million and HEPs increased by 200% to 17.64 cents per share. Earnings per share increased by 146% to 17.6 cents per share. In the prior period, the gain on bargain purchase of $28 million as a result of the tenant mines acquisition was included in earnings per share but not in headline earnings, which explains the difference between EPS and HEPs. There are no material differences between earnings and headline earnings in the current year. Current year production costs and all-in-sustaining costs in US dollar terms were impacted as a result of the appreciation of the Rand and Australian dollar relative to the US dollar by 7% and 5% respectively. Production costs were further impacted by processing of third-party material and lower than anticipated ramp-up of production from tenant mines, which increased unit costs. Higher employee share based payment expenses linked to the company share price performance and increased royalty payments arising from the elevated gold price also negatively impacted the unit cost of production. Although the cost of production from these third party sources are higher than the cost of the group's own production, the margin is still very attractive at prevailing gold prices and ensures that we utilise the group's full processing capacity. The impact of a full year of production from tenant mines and steady-state production for a full year from the MTR operation should also be taken into account when comparing the absolute cost of production as these operations were not fully commissioned in the corresponding reporting period. Tenant mines and MTR contributed to increases of approximately 37% and 14% respectively to the total group cost of production. The very substantial increase in cash flows from operating activities before dividend, tax, royalties and net finance costs of 260% to US$557 million demonstrates the impact of growing gold production by 38% while controlling cost increases in this high gold price environment. These cash flows assisted the group to de-gear the balance sheet by reducing the debt and ending the financial year with a significant net cash holding. The reduction in debt included the settlement of the PAR SO1 bonds which was part of the group's inaugural issuance in the debt capital markets, full settlement of the MTR loan facility and all of the Australian facilities. Slide 47 demonstrates the group's debt repayments and ability to generate cash. The debt redemption profile for the financial year was well ahead of contractual requirements. The group repaid a total of $149 million in debt, of which $119 million was voluntary repayments during the current year. The MTR term loan facility was fully settled in January 2026, while in advance of the contractual repayment date of 31 July 2029. All of the Australian operations debt facilities were also fully settled, which only leaves the group with enlisted corporate bonds as outstanding debt at year end, with fixed maturity dates up to March 2028 and fairly muted redemptions over the next year. The groups revolving credit facility and general banking facilities are undrawn and a number of very attractive banking proposals are currently being considered for the extension of these facilities, together with offers for the financing of the Australian operations. The group is very well positioned to fund future growth and continue returns to shareholders in the form of dividends, with undrawn facilities of $79 million and cash and short-term investments of $246 million. Slide 48 tracks the Group's historical dividend payments and attractive returns to shareholders. The proposed record dividend of 65 cents per share for the 2026 financial year, combined with a maiden interim dividend of 12 cents per share, will result in a total dividend distribution of R1.86 million or approximately $113 million for the 2026 financial year. The proposed and interim dividend combined of 77 cents per share represents a 108% increase in dividend per share for the 2026 financial year. The Board has also approved a share buyback programme to purchase up to R500 million or approximately $30 million of ordinary shares of the company, commencing during October 2026. The Board believes that at the current share price, the company's shares offer significant value given the quality and profitability of the Group's existing operations and growth projects. The Board has therefore taken the decision to implement the program as part of the company's broader strategy to deliver value to shareholders. Purchases pursuant to the program will be made under the authority granted by shareholders at the company's 2025 Annual General Meeting on the main market of the LSE and on the JSE. The proposed dividend for the 2026 financial year together with the approved share buyback program to the value of R500 million or approximately $30 million will result in a payout ratio of approximately 40% of cash flow as defined by the dividend policy. The dividend will be proposed to shareholders for approval at the 2026 Annual General Meeting to be held during November 2026. We are very comfortable that PanAfrican has sufficient available liquidity after payment of the attractive dividend to fund operations together with further renewable energy initiatives and our very attractive growth projects. Thank you. I will now hand back to Kubus to conclude today's presentation.

speaker
Kwibus
Chief Executive Officer

Thank you Marileen. If we conclude on slide 50 and to again reinforce some key points. We now have tailwinds from the highest gold price in history and the group is completely unhedged and ungeared. We have a stable production base with costs well managed and we have a pipeline of very attractive growth projects. Clearly in this environment, the group is generating significant cash flows. Let me reassure shareholders that we will, as always, continue to be incredibly prudent in terms of capital allocation and investment decisions. We have an outstanding track record in terms of generating sector leading shareholder returns on an absolute and per share basis and we will not compromise on this metric. Thank you very much for your time this morning. We look forward to continue mining for a future and expanding our horizons in the year ahead. Yes, thank you again. There's an opportunity for questions. Shall we see if there's anybody on the chorus call that would like to ask a question?

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