TIDMMTR
RNS Number : 0866Q
Metal Tiger PLC
25 February 2016
Metal Tiger Plc
25 February 2016
Metal Tiger Plc
("Metal Tiger" or the "Company")
Strategic and Operational Update
Metal Tiger plc (LON:MTR), the London Stock Exchange AIM listed
investor in strategic natural resource opportunities, is pleased to
announce the key findings of a Strategic and Operational Review
(the "Review") undertaken by the Company.
The summary findings of this review are presented below:
Highlights:
Business Divisions
- Metal Tiger will now comprise two renamed divisions: Metal
Projects and Asset Trading to reflect the activities of the
Company.
- The Metal Projects division comprises of the Company's direct
investments in holding companies for project operations on the
ground. These include the Company's interests in Botswana, Spain,
Thailand and Tanzania. This division would also house any other
direct project investments acquired by Metal Tiger.
- The Asset Trading division encompasses the Company's equity,
warrant and royalty trading. All activities seek to generate cash
inflow, in order to mitigate the need for external dilution through
share placings.
Business Activities
- The Company's objective is to deliver significant returns for
investors and the Board believes that the best and most prudent way
to achieve is by making strategically diversified investments in
natural resource projects at or near the bottom of the cyclical
sector downturn. For this reason the Metal Projects division will
become the main focus of the Company. This recognises the scale and
significance of Metal Tiger's assets in Thailand and Botswana plus
the extremely positive exploration progress made in Spain to
date.
- Asset Trading will continue to remain an active division and
current assets include natural resource equities, long-dated
warrants and potential royalties. It is the Company's intention to
continue trading such investments in order to generate profits for
reinvestment in the Metals Projects division. Recognising the
Company's focus on Metal Projects, reporting on Asset Trading will
now be restricted to the half year and full year results, save
where we are required to announce transactions for regulatory
reasons.
- The pipeline of opportunities under review but not yet
acquired by Metal Tiger is extensive and includes traditional
mineral opportunities, resource technology and resource related
fintech interests.
- From time to time additional project interests may be added to
the Company's portfolio; though we will remain mindful at all times
of any additional working capital requirements such additions may
bring.
- There may also be occasions when, rather than acquiring
projects directly, we will choose to assist vendors to joint
venture or dispose of interests directly into other listed
vehicles. In such circumstances Metal Tiger may receive fees in the
form of cash, shares and/or warrants; thereby helping to build our
working capital position whilst ensuring a successful commercial
outcome for the work we have done in building an active
pipeline.
- In all cases the Company will seek to structure investments
and other transactions in a tax efficient and pragmatic manner and
continues to seek on-going specialist advice in this regard.
Key Strategic Objectives
It is the Company's belief that, with the bottoming in the
mineral resource sector, the time is now right to make new
acquisitions and develop new interests. Metal Tiger's first key
strategic objective is therefore the acquisition of high potential
strategic metals projects whilst applying prudent levels of
investment in order to elevate the value of each project as
efficiently and effectively as possible.
- Recognising the cyclical nature of the natural resource
market, Metal Tiger's second key strategic objective is to ensure
that a clear exit strategy is in place to reflect the
cyclicality.
- Therefore, as the sector recovery ensues we will continue to
drive the value of our investments in order to increase the value
of the Metal Tiger business in line with the recovery. Should the
sector begin to show signs of overheating, as is typical in a
cyclical market, we intend to distribute all or a portion of any
significant crystallised capital gains to shareholders. This may
entail the distribution of shares in new entities or cash returned,
as far as possible, in a tax efficient manner.
Board and Management Structure
- Metal Tiger announced a management restructuring on 8(th)
February 2016, and we are pleased to confirm that all role changes
have now been implemented smoothly. All Board members retain a
commitment to the future success of the Company and will be
actively engaged in the decision-making process as we move
forward.
- The functional business structure of Metal Tiger has been
enhanced to reflect the growth of the Company during 2015 and early
2016 and the needs of the business for the foreseeable future.
- The Company has now appointed a new Chief Financial Officer,
Company Secretary and Office Manager. All new team members have
been appointed on a flexible basis, reducing the initial fixed cost
to the business whilst allowing for increasing commitment as the
business continues to grow.
- The Company is currently reviewing a pay and incentivisation
structure that will link the overall compensation package of all
team members to the share price performance of the Company.
Company Advisory Network
- The Company has undertaken a review of its advisor network to
ensure all providers are suitable to assist the Company as it
continues to expand in an efficient and cost-effective manner. This
includes all regulatory and non-regulatory providers and
specifically including those providing geologist services and mine
engineering consultancy.
Business Marketing & Communications
- Metal Tiger will publish 'Quarterly Activities' reports to
summarise key Metal Project developments in the preceding quarter,
with the first report to be produced by the end of April 2016 in
respect of the quarter ended 31 March 2016. This will align the
Company with normal reporting in established resource markets such
as the ASX and TSX, demonstrating the international nature of Metal
Tiger operations and the Company's willingness to secure interest
from an international investor base.
- The Company is currently reviewing the work of all media
partners and will organise future communications through partners
in the most efficient manner possible.
- Metal Tiger is keen to leverage its social media presence;
which has proven to be an efficient and powerful tool for engaging
with investors and disseminating the Company message.
- The Company's website is being extensively overhauled to
include features such as an opt-in mailing list for people to
subscribe to Company updates; a library section where articles
relating to the Company's activities will be published; and a
gallery section with images being regularly published across key
project interests.
Finance and Working Capital
- Metal Tiger is keen to maintain a healthy working capital
position at all times. Crystallisation of trading profits and
fundraising through placings undertaken on reasonable terms,
attractive to the Company and investors, have enabled Metal Tiger
to achieve this objective to date. Since the start of 2015 Metal
Tiger has been able to raise over GBP1.3 million through placings
undertaken at or around the mid market price including GBP240,000
invested personally by the Company's Chairman Terry Grammer.
- Proceeds from fundraisings undertaken in 2015 and 2016 have
been targeted to the expansion of Company interests and the
acquisition of new opportunities during what we believe to be the
bottoming phase of the natural resource market.
- Metal Tiger remains open at all times to the disposal of
assets on highly attractive terms and the Company recognises the
importance of incoming capital in order to defray dilution.
- Metal Tiger maintains a strong working capital position and a
significant level of private investor interest and support which is
of critical importance for a company at our stage of
development.
- It is essential that that we are also on the radar of larger
institutions whose engagement will be key to any larger scale
future investment. The Company has therefore appointed an
experienced Institutional Liaison Manager to complement existing
brokerage contacts and to forge introductions to family funds and
larger UK and overseas institutions currently active in the natural
resource sector.
- The Board is of the opinion that institutional funding does
not generally engage with micro-cap companies within the resources
sector (i.e. Market Capitalisation less than GBP20million), however
we are of the view that in a recovering market, as our business
advances, our share price and overall market capitalisation should
increase to reflect progress in our business, at which point
full-scale institutional funding would become a viable
proposition.
- Notwithstanding the above, Metal Tiger has recently received
expressions of interest in financing Company investments at plc
level and project level. Such expressions of interest come from
traditional high net worth investor funding sources and from larger
non-traditional institutions in the UK, Singapore and
elsewhere.
- The Company enjoys a strong working capital position, and
therefore the Board would not necessarily be inclined to take up
such offers of funding. The Board is confident that the Company
will be able to access such additional working capital as may be
needed in the future to continue to deliver on the Company's key
objective.
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