The company also announced a share buyback of up to 50 million shares, or 4.17 per cent of outstanding shares, with a maximum value of JPY80 billion, scheduled from August 12 to December 31.
“Strengthening the structural profit base along with improving resilience to low oil prices and yen appreciation has built confidence in future earnings,” Yamada said, citing this as the reason behind the increased shareholder returns.
For the six months ended June, Inpex’s net profit increased 5.1 per cent to JPY223.53 billion.