27 March 2024
Ecora Resources
PLC
("Ecora",
the "Company" or the "Group")
Initiation of share buyback
programme
Ecora Resources PLC (LSE/TSX: ECOR), the leading royalty company
focused on supporting the supply of commodities essential to
creating a sustainable future, today announces the initiation of a
share buyback programme to
purchase ordinary shares of 2 pence each in the Company
("Ordinary
Shares") for
up to a maximum aggregate consideration of US$10 million (£7.9
million) from the date of this announcement (the
"Buyback
Programme").
Ecora has a portfolio of
high-quality royalties located in established mining jurisdictions
with leading operating partners. The portfolio combines near term
volume growth with a pipeline of development projects that should
drive material revenue growth and offers a compelling expected
returns profile.
The purpose of the buyback is to
take advantage of a capital allocation opportunity as the Board is
of the view that the shares are trading at a substantial discount
to net asset value offering a compelling expected returns profile
underpinned by a portfolio of high-quality royalties.
The capital outlay will primarily be funded by the
proceeds of from the Company's recent partial LIORC stake
sale.
The Buyback Programme is in line
with the newly announced capital allocation framework which is
designed to directly link dividends to free cash flows, maintain
balance sheet strength, provide an attractive dividend yield, and
retain the flexibility to allocate capital to enhance the Company's
royalty portfolio via. accretive royalty
acquisitions.
Marc Bishop Lafleche, Chief Executive Officer of Ecora,
commented:
"Cyclical market lows present an opportunity for Ecora to
buy-back its shares which are currently trading at a substantial
discount to NAV. As such, and in line with our updated capital
allocation framework, our US$10 million programme will be highly
accretive to our per share metrics.
"We remain in a strong position to acquire royalties that
further diversify and grow our business to deliver long-term
sustainable returns and to align with society's shift towards a
low-carbon economy."
Process
To facilitate the Buyback Programme,
Ecora has today entered into an engagement with Peel Hunt LLP
("Peel Hunt") under which it has issued a non-discretionary
irrevocable instruction to Peel Hunt to repurchase Ordinary Shares
in the Company to be held in treasury. The
agreement provides Peel Hunt with authority to carry out market
purchases under the Buyback Programme independently of the Company
within the agreed parameters. The Buyback
Programme will commence today, 27 March 2024, and end no later than
27 September 2024. Purchases may continue during any closed periods
of the Company during this period.
Purchases pursuant to the Buyback
Programme will be conducted in accordance with the general
authority to re-purchase Ordinary Shares granted by the Company's
shareholders at the 2023 annual general meeting. All Ordinary
Shares purchased under the Buyback Programme will be purchased
within the price parameters as specified in the relevant
shareholder authorities. The maximum number of shares that may be
purchased under the existing authorities is 25,790,340 ordinary
shares.
Due to the limited liquidity in the
Ordinary Shares, a buy-back of Ordinary Shares on any trading day
may represent a significant portion of the daily trading volumes in
the Ordinary Shares and may exceed 25% of the average daily trading
volume specified in the provisions of the UK version of the Market
Abuse Regulation (596/2014/EU)[1] dealing
with buyback programmes and accordingly the Company may not benefit
from the exemption in Article 5(1) of that
regulation.
The purchases will take place on the
London Stock Exchange only and not on the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Details of any purchases made under the Buyback Programme will be
provided via RNS announcements and published on the Company's
website.
For further information:
About the Ecora Resources
Ecora Resources is a leading royalty
company focused on supporting the supply of commodities essential
to creating a sustainable future.
Our vision is to be globally
recognised as the royalty company of choice synonymous with
commodities that support a sustainable future by continuing to grow
and diversify our royalty portfolio in line with our strategy. We
will achieve this through building a diversified portfolio of scale
over high quality assets that drives low volatility earnings growth
and shareholder returns.
The mining sector has an essential
role to play in the energy transition, with commodities such as
copper, nickel and cobalt - key materials for manufacturing
batteries and electric vehicles. Copper also plays a critical role
in our electricity grids. All these commodities are mined and there
are not enough mines in operation today to supply the volume
required to achieve the energy transition.
Our strategy is to acquire royalties
and streams over low-cost operations and projects with strong
management teams, in well-established mining jurisdictions. Our
portfolio has been reweighted to provide material exposure to this
commodity basket and we have successfully transitioned from a coal
orientated royalty business in 2014 to one that by 2026 will be
materially coal free and comprised of over 90% exposure to
commodities that support a sustainable future. The fundamental
demand outlook for these commodities over the next decade is very
strong, which should significantly increase the value of our
royalty portfolio.
Ecora's shares are listed on the
London and Toronto Stock Exchanges (ECOR) and trade on the OTCQX
Best Market (OTCQX: ECRAF).