Codan’s new record profit coming

A South Australian business that has a policy to go halves on its profit with shareholders through dividends is gearing up for another record haul.

Codan managing director and CEO with a gold detector, pictured at Mawson Lakes. in SA. Picture: Stephen Laffer

Investors in South Australian business Codan can expect more dividend windfalls in the new year with the business expecting to make a record first half profit.

Codan, now valued at $1.8bn, said it expects first half-profit to the end of December to be around $40m, a new personal best for the business.

Codan makes metal and other detectors and communications equipment at its Mawson Lakes facility in SA.

“The demand for our metal detectors across both recreational and artisanal mining markets has been exceptional,” the ASX-listed business told shareholders

Headed by long-time managing director Donald McGurk, Codan is continuing to realise the benefits from an expanding geographic spread, increased distribution into mass market retail channels and an investment to increase manufacturing capacity.

Strong market anticipation about the launch of a new detector in the third quarter and the communications business entering the second half with an order book in excess of $30m would contribute to an “expected strong full year result”.

Codan reported a $30m record profit haul for the first half in the previous financial year.

Full year profit came in at a record $64m with shareholders receiving a total dividend of 18.5c per share, up 32 per cent on the previous year.

The business, which is likely to report first-half results in February, has a policy of paying shareholders about 50 per cent of its full year profit as dividends.

Shares were trading around $11 on Thursday.