By: Reuters

Impala Platinum IMPJ.J said on Thursday its annual profit increased more than 31-fold, driven by higher platinum group metal (PGM) prices which helped the company to bump up its dividend.

The miner said its headline earnings per share - a profit measure widely used in South Africa - were 25.48 rand ($1.59) in the year ended June 30, compared with 0.82 rand previously.

Impala said its rand revenue per ounce increased by 51% on the back of higher metal prices, resulting in a 58% jump in revenue to 135.1 billion rand.

Its refined production was 5% higher at 3.56 million ounces, aided by the release of previously accumulated inventory in its processing pipeline. Metal sales were 4% up at 3.51 million ounces.

Impala said it will pay a final dividend of 4.90 rand per share and make an additional payout of 9.55 per share. The company paid a dividend of 1.65 rand per share last year.

($1 = 16.0390 rand)

(Reporting by Nelson Banya; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)