TIDMSVE
RNS Number : 9155F
Starvest PLC
30 April 2014
30 April 2014
Half-year report - six months ended 31 March 2014
Chairman's statement
I am pleased to provide a half year update. Although the result
as shown in the interim accounts is not exciting, the net asset
value continues to show a good improvement from both 30 September
and 31 December 2013. This is due in large measure to the fact that
the market has begun to recognise the exciting possibilities for
Nordic Energy plc (ISDX: NORP), which is explained further in the
investment portfolio update.
As announced on 2 April, the Company net asset value at 31 March
2014 closed at GBP3.90m, over GBP1m in excess of the value at 30
September 2013. The net asset value per share of 10.5p compared
with the closing mid-price of 5.88p, as corrected, gives a discount
of 44%.
However, since then some prices have fallen so that at the close
of business on 25 April, the net asset value had fallen slightly to
10.15p. As the Company's share price had fallen to 5.5p, the
discount increased to 46%. But this does not tell the whole story,
for we take a conservative view when valuing our portfolio: were we
to have valued our investments at mid-price, the value would have
been increased by GBP335,000; were we not to have applied a
discount for size to the values of five companies where we hold 7%
or more of the shares in issue, the value would have increased by a
further GBP730,000. Therefore, on a strict mid-market basis, the
value per share would have been 13.37p with a share price discount
of 56%.
Generally, the environment continues to be challenging for the
early stage mineral exploration companies in which we invest. These
companies must raise new capital in order to continue their early
stage exploration activities. But what is the source of this new
capital? Traditionally private investors have stepped up to the
mark but in recent times they have been much more selective in
their choices as a result of which many exploration companies have
struggled. Increasingly, management time is spent on fundraising
activities rather than on exploration; therefore share prices are
under pressure.
In summary, during the half year:
-- Company net asset value increased to GBP3.9m;
-- Starvest's mid-market share price to 5.88 pence;
-- Closing net asset value of 10.5 pence per share;
-- Mid-market share price on 31 March 2014 had a discount to net asset value of 44%;
-- During the period we sold our interest in Centamin plc, not a
company in which we invested but one we inherited as part of the
proceeds from the disposal of Sheba Exploration in 2011.
-- There were no acquisitions although loans were made to
Goldcrest Resources plc which are likely to be converted to equity
when that company achieves its objective of moving to AIM.
All valuations are based on the closing market bid prices or
lower directors' valuation as described in the 2013 annual report,
but with the application of a discount in those instances where the
Company holds a substantial interest.
There follows a brief investment portfolio update containing
news from a number of our investee companies. Further information
will be added to the Company website, www.starvest.co.uk, as
information becomes available but more up to date information is
always available from the websites of investee companies as
detailed.
The Company will next update the market as soon as practicable
following 30 June 2014, or in the event of a significant change in
valuation during the quarter.
R Bruce Rowan
Chairman & Chief Executive
30 April 2014
Investment portfolio update
We report on some of the significant developments in the
Starvest portfolio since we issued the 2013 annual report in
November 2013:
Progress at Kiziltepe, part of
* Ariana Resources plc the Red Rabbit gold-silver project
in Western Turkey continues; negotiations
for financing of $25m are progressing
Gold exploration in Turkey to facilitate mine construction
www.arianaresources.com which is expected to lead to annual
production of 21,000 oz per annum;
trial mining has produced 4,800
tons; Proccea, a Turkish conglomerate,
now holds 26.5% of Red Rabbit
having spent $1.2m. Significant
new gold district identified at
Ardala-Salinbas with a JORC resource
of 1.09m oz being managed and
financed by Eldorado Gold of which
Ariana holds 49%.
Drilling continues at Kallak north
* Beowulf Mining plc and south. Results so far received
are good. This project offers
a safe, European location with
Iron ore, gold and copper easy access to markets. Recently
exploration in Sweden granted a further licence to explore
www.beowulfmining.com a promising area adjacent to Kallak.
Good results continue from drilling
at Ballek. With the shares dual-listed
in Stockholm, plans are under
way to promote on-going developments
to a wider range of Swedish investors.
Impressive progress is reported
* Greatland Gold plc towards establishing resources
across the asset portfolio. In
particular, Greatland reports
Gold exploration in Western the results of drilling in Tasmania
Australia and Tasmania at the Warrentinna project showing
www.greatlandgold.com grades above 1.9g/t including
1m at 5.48g/t. In Western Australia,
the 1,000 square kilometres of
Ernst Giles includes over 100
km of gold prospective rocks,
hitherto unexplored. In addition,
several geochemical targets with
gold mineralisation have been
confirmed at Bromus.
Kefi reports solid progress at
* Kefi Minerals plc both its Saudi Arabian and newly
acquired 75% stake in the Tulu
Kapi project in Ethiopia where
Gold and copper exploration the plan is to construct a mine
in Turkey and Saudi Arabia to produce 60,000 oz pa of gold
www.kefi-minerals.com at an all-in cash cost of $700
per oz. JORC compliant resources
now amount to 2.05m oz, but a
further update is expected in
Q3 2014 following a drilling campaign.
Drilling continues in Saudi Arabia
where a plan is being prepared
to mine 32,000 oz pa.
20 prospects and leads have been
* Nordic Energy plc identified, a significant increase
from the 8 previously reported
with an increase in potential
Oil and gas exploration in recoverable resources. These together
the North Sea www.nordicenergyplc.com have resulted in a significant
increase in the Nordic share price,
although we have heavily discounted
it for the purpose of our valuation
at 31/3/14. It remains very early
days for this new venture but
we are pleased to have been able
to provide initial funding which
has been well used. An updated
CPR is expected in Q2 2014.
Oracle has materially de-risked
* Oracle Coalfields plc its integrated coalmine and mine-mouth
power generation facility project
by bringing in significant Chinese
Coal mining in Pakistan strategic partners into its local
www.oraclecoalfields.com subsidiary to develop its coal
resource in south-east Pakistan.
It anticipates financial close
in 2014 with agreements in the
course of being signed covering
a major portion of the debt and
equity required for the project.
The power shortage in Pakistan
continues to escalate so that
the development of Oracle's project
becomes ever more important to
the growth of the country's economy.
Although the gold price fell 28%
* Red Rock Resources plc during calendar year 2013, continued
improvement in gold production
in Colombia is now delivering
Gold exploration in Kenya profits. Given no progress with
and Columbia with investments the originally forecast sale,
in other companies; iron other possible purchasers are
ore and manganese exploration being sought.
in Greenland In Kenya there has been some delay
www.rrrplc.com owing to the new constitution
and personnel at the Ministry;
the initial stages of a feasibility
study for a mine are in hand.
A new venture is planned into
Ivory Coast, identified as a prospective
source of early stage exploration
opportunities.
No progress with the sale of a
part interest in the Greenland
iron ore venture; the company
suggests that the project be forgotten
for the present.
Elsewhere, Jupiter Mines in which
RRR has an interest is making
excellent progress at its 49%
owned Tshipi Borwa manganese mine
in South Africa.
Direct Nickel has completed a
* Regency Mines plc successful demonstration program
for its new nickel extraction
technology leading to the announcement
Copper & nickel exploration of a feasibility study for a first
in Australia and Papua New commercial plant to be constructed
Guinea and investments in in Indonesia.
Red Rock Resources plc, and Ram Resources Limited, an Australian
Direct Nickel Limited venture with interests in the
www.regency-mines.com Fraser Range in which RGM holds
16.5%, completed a fundraise of
A$2.2m.
At its Cue diamond project in
* Sunrise Resources plc Western Australia, drilling has
begun.
Initial work has been completed
Mineral exploration in Finland, at its copper project in Nevada
Australia and Ireland USA which it is hoped will lead
www.sunriseresourcesplc.com to a drilling campaign.
Recently, Alba has raised GBP230,718
* Alba Mineral Resources plc gross from a new investor to provide
working capital, develop the Group's
asset portfolio and investigate
Nickel, uranium & gold in further opportunities. We await
Scotland, Mauritania, Sweden developments.
and Ireland
www.albamineralresources.com
Goldcrest has upgraded its licences
* Goldcrest Resources plc in north-east Ghana in preparation
for moving to AIM in Q2 2014,
to be accompanied by raising additional
Gold exploration in Ghana capital to facilitate a drilling
www.goldcrestresourcesplc.com campaign at its Zamsa licence.
The company focus of unlocking
* International Mining & Infrastructure Corporation plc value from iron ore assets in
Africa has completed the acquisition
of Afferro Mining Inc., a company
Investment holding company with high quality iron ore assets
www.imicplc.com in Cameroon. A PFS is in hand
at one project; another is being
fast tracked to production in
the expectation of it being an
early revenue earner.
Other investee companies are listed in the Company's 2013 annual
report available on request as below.
Profit & loss account
6 months 6 months Year ended
to 31 March to 31 March 30 September
2014 2013 2013
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
GBP GBP GBP
Operating income 262,941 - -
Direct costs (194,801) - -
-------------- -------------- --------------
Gross profit 68,140 - -
Administrative expenses (113,410) (108,727) (206,702)
Amounts written off trade investments
- net (228,472) (563,352) (802,394)
Operating (loss) on ordinary
activities (273,742) (672,079) (1,009,096)
Interest receivable 2,109 1,214 1,835
-------------- -------------- --------------
(Loss) on ordinary activities
before taxation (271,633) (670,864) (1,007,261)
Tax on profit on ordinary activities - 127 127
-------------- -------------- --------------
(Loss) on ordinary activities
after taxation (271,633) (670,737) (1,007,134)
-------------- -------------- --------------
(Loss) per share - see note
3 (0.7) pence (1.8) pence (2.7) pence
Basic - - -
Fully diluted
-------------- -------------- --------------
Balance sheet
6 months 6 months Year ended
ended 31 ended 31 30 September
March 2014 March 2013 2013
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
GBP GBP GBP
Current assets
Debtors 64,182 24,079 37,200
Trading investments 1,836,690 2,495,704 2,258,662
Cash at bank and in hand 371,666 347,486 257,556
------------ ------------ --------------
2,272,538 2,867,269 2,553,418
Creditors - amounts falling
due within one year
Other creditors (37,413) (24,113) (46,659)
------------ ------------ --------------
Net current assets 2,235,125 2,843,156 2,506,759
------------ ------------ --------------
Share capital and reserves
Called up share capital 394,173 394,173 394,173
Share premium account 2,118,396 2,118,396 2,118,396
Profit and loss account (277,444) 330,587 (5,810)
------------ ------------ --------------
Equity shareholders' funds 2,235,125 2,843,156 2,506,759
------------ ------------ --------------
Cash flow statement
6 months 6 months Year ended
ended 31 ended 31 30 September
March 2014 March 2013 2013
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
GBP GBP GBP
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from
operating activities 112,001 (137,064) (227,360)
Returns on investment and servicing
of finance:
Interest receivable 2,109 1,214 1,835
------------ ------------ --------------
Taxation recovered - 284,300 284,045
------------ ------------ --------------
Increase in cash in the period 114,110 148,450 58,520
Opening cash balance brought
forward 257,556 199,036 199,036
Net debt brought forward - - -
------------ ------------ --------------
Closing cash balance 371,666 347,486 257,556
------------ ------------ --------------
Movement on equity shareholders' funds
6 months 6 months Year ended
ended 31 ended 31 30 September
March 2014 March 2013 2013
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
GBP GBP GBP
Total recognised (loss) (271,634) (670,737) (1,007,134)
relating to the period
Shares issued - - -
Dividends paid - - -
------------ ------------ --------------
(Decrease) in shareholders'
funds (271,634) (670,737) (1,007,134)
Opening shareholders' funds 2,506,759 3,513,893 3,513,893
------------ ------------ --------------
Closing shareholders' funds 2,235,125 2,843,156 2,506,759
------------ ------------ --------------
Interim report notes
1. Interim report
The information relating to the six month periods to 31 March
2014 and 31 March 2013 is unaudited.
The information relating to the year ended 30 September 2013 is
extracted from the audited accounts of the Company which have been
filed at Companies House and on which the auditors issued an
unqualified audit report.
2. Basis of accounting
The report has been prepared using accounting policies that are
consistent with those adopted by the Company in accordance with UK
GAAP for the statutory accounts for the year ended 30 September
2013, although the information does not constitute statutory
accounts within the meaning of section 435 of the Companies Act
2006.
The Company will report again for the full year to 30 September
2014.
The Company's investments at 31 March 2014 are valued at the
lower of cost or the valuation adopted at 30 September 2013 or the
current market value based on bid prices at the close of business.
The Chairman's statement includes a valuation based on bid prices
at 31 March 2014.
3. Earnings per share
6 months 6 months Year ended
ended 31 ended 31 30 September
March 2014 March 2013 2013
Unaudited Unaudited Audited
GBP GBP GBP
These have been calculated
on a (loss) of: (271,633) (670,737) (1,007,134)
-------------- -------------- --------------
The weighted average number
of shares used was: 37,117,259 37,117,259 37,117,259
-------------- -------------- --------------
Basic (loss) per share: (0.7) pence (1.8) pence (2.7) pence
-------------- -------------- --------------
A diluted loss per share
has not been calculated as
the option exercise price
exceeds the current market
price.
Shareholders and others who wish to receive electronic copies of
announcements are invited to register their email address on the
home page of the Company website: www.starvest.co.uk.
Copies of this interim report are available free of charge by
application in writing to the Company Secretary at the Company's
registered office, 55 Gower Street, London WC1E 6HQ, by email to
email@starvest.co.uk or from the Company's website at
www.starvest.co.uk.
Enquiries to:
-- Bruce Rowan, telephone 020 7486 3997
-- John Watkins, telephone 01483 771992, or to john@starvest.co.uk
-- Colin Aaronson or Edward Thomas, Grant Thornton UK LLP, telephone 020 7383 5100
End
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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