The South32 Limited (ASX: S32) share price is in the red on Thursday.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) diversified mining stock closed yesterday trading for $3.26. At the time of writing, shares are swapping hands for $3.21 apiece, down 1.5%.
For some context, the ASX 200 is up 0.1% at this same time, and the S&P/ASX 200 Resource Index (ASX: XJR) is up 0.6%.
Here's what's going on.
Image source: Getty Images
Why is the ASX 200 mining stock sliding today?
Much of the pressure on the South32 share price today comes because the stock is trading ex-dividend.
That means investors buying shares today will no longer receive the upcoming dividend payout. That passive income will go to investors who held shares at market close yesterday.
South32 management declared the final dividend when the mining giant reported its FY 2023 results on 24 August.
It proved to be a difficult year for the company, with revenue falling 20% from FY 2022 to US$7.43 billion. Underlying profit before tax also took a wallop, plunging 63% year on year to US$1.42 billion.
As you'd expect, this saw a big fall in the final dividend as well, which came out at 3.1 US cents per share, fully franked.
At today's exchange rate, that comes out to just under 5 Aussie cents per share, down from the 25 cents per share final dividend declared in FY 2022.
At the current South32 share price, that equates to a fully franked yield of 1.6% from the final dividend payout alone.
Commenting on South32 dividend on the day of the FY 2023 results release, South32 CEO Graham Kerr said:
A record US$1.2 billion was returned to shareholders during the 2023 financial year and the board has today resolved to pay a fully franked ordinary dividend of 3.2 cents per share or US$145 million in respect of the June 2023 half year.
Kerr also gave a nod to the additional US$50 million in new share buybacks.
"Reflecting our disciplined approach to capital management, the board has also resolved to further expand our capital management program by US$50 million to US$2.4 billion," he said.
That leaves US$133 million to be returned by 1 March.
Eligible investors can expect the final South32 dividend to hit their bank accounts on 12 October.
Sout32 share price snapshot
It's been a tough year for the South32 share price, down 26% in 12 months.
