LONDON (Alliance News) - Rare Earth Minerals PLC Monday said its pretax loss widened in the first half of 2015 and said it will continue to invest in its projects to "deliver excellent results".
The company, which is invested in numerous natural resource projects, reported a GBP1.2 million pretax loss in the first six months of 2015, widening from the GBP191,000 loss reported a year earlier. The company does not currently generate any revenue.
The loss widened after administrative costs rose to GBP1.0 million from GBP641,000 and because it made a GBP97,000 loss from equity swap settlements compared to a GBP456,000 gain a year ago. Finance costs rose to GBP110,000 from GBP6,000.
Rare Earth said its net assets increased to GBP21.8 million at the end of June from GBP15.6 million at the end of December.
The company's portfolio is headed up by its flagship joint venture Sonora lithium project in northern Mexico with fellow-listed Bacanora Minerals Ltd, for which the pair recently signed a lithium supply deal with Tesla Motors, the US-based electric sports car and energy storage products company.
Its other interests are in the Yangibana rare earth mineral project in Australia, the Western lithium project in Nevada in the US, and the Cinovec lithium project in the Czech Republic.
"The past six months has been both significant for the projects we have invested in and the markets in which they operate. We will continue to look to add value to these assets. We believe that the investments that have been made by the group have the potential to deliver excellent returns," said the company.
Rare Earth shares were up 3.2% to 1.06 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; joshuawarner@alliancenews.com; @JoshAlliance
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