Incitec Pivot jumps 4.7% as capital return plans confirmed

The news: Incitec Pivot shares have surged 4.7% in morning trading as the fertilisers and explosives giant announced details to return $500 million to shareholders through a capital reduction.

The numbers: Incitec Pivot will pay out roughly half a billion dollars through a $0.1557 per share capital reduction and an unfranked special dividend of $0.1017 per share, worth roughly $302 million and $198 million respectively. IPL shares were trading 4.7% higher at $2.90 by 11:30am AEDT.

The context: Last year, Incitec Pivot promised to pay $1.4 billion to shareholders after the successful sale of an ammonia facility and posting its second-highest profit since 2008. It's share price still trended lower in 2023, however, after rolling off from multi-year highs in 2022 as exceptionally high commodity prices eased.