Shareholders for Impala Platinum are to benefit from a R4.3 billion return following an increase in first half headline earnings per share for the company.

The South African platinum producer announced the decision after revealing a 78 per cent growth in earnings per share, reports Reuters.

The company also reported a seven per cent rise in group production during the period, taking platinum production to 938,000 ounces.

Chief executive Keith Rumble explained the reasoning behind the planned return and said the firm would return the cash by declaring a R55 special dividend as well as a R10 interim dividend.

"The distribution of approximately R4.3 billion is in line with our stated philosophy of returning excess cash to shareholders and indicative of the company's cash generative ability going forward," he commented.

The recent success of the firm is thanks in part to the high price of platinum, which increased by around 15 per cent during the last year and reached $1,083 earlier this month.

Mr Rumble said he was confident that the platinum group metals market would remain stable and that current production plans were aimed towards a yearly growth rate of five per cent, with a target of 2.3 million ounces by 2010.

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