rns25 Jan 2018 07:45
On 16 March 2017, the Company's previous board announced that, following the first phase of the FEED for the Project known as Concept Evaluation, the remaining funding required to complete the FEED and commercialisation work programme would be approximately �2.2 million, including general working capital requirements of the Company, but InfraStrata's current board (the "Board") has been able to reduce this estimate. The Board believes that the Project can be progressed in the shorter-term by employing a different strategy, by approaching the FEED and commercialisation work programme as separate processes, and therefore that the FEED can be completed on a reduced budget without comprising the key deliverables. The Board believes this can be achieved principally by reducing the use of external contractors and exploiting the Board's skill set and experience, which is available on a more cost-effective basis than the levels of cost associated with the Company's previous board and its strategy.
As announced on 22 December 2017, the Board was able to renew the matched funding grant from the EU for the FEED, conditional on the FEED being completed by 22 December 2018. InfraStrata has already incurred expenditure on the FEED for the Concept Evaluation undertaken in 2017 and therefore the Directors believe that the Company will be able to claim a partial rebate under the grant from the EU in respect of this expenditure once the next stage of the FEED has commenced, and this has been incorporated into the revised FEED budget. In addition, the FEED contractors have undertaken to enter into agreements to provide loans of, in aggregate, up to �1.1 million to the Project company, Islandmagee Storage Limited ("IMSL"), conditional on the balance of funding for the FEED being secured, as announced on 4 November 2016. Therefore, with the EU monies, prospective loans from the FEED contractors and other cost savings, only approximately �0.66 million remains to be secured to commence and complete the FEED (excluding the Company's general working capital requirements). The FEED will ensure that the detailed designs and costings for the Project are completed for the final investment decision.
InfraStrata is in negotiations with a number of different debt and other funding providers, ranging from government administered funds through to high net worth investors to provide funding for the FEED and beyond. Access to debt finance in the shorter-term has not been possible, as the relevant negotiations are lengthy and complex. However, the Board is confident that the various sources of funding approached to date will, in due course, provide further finance to the Company.
Alongside the FEED, the Board intends to run the Project's commercialisation process by utilising the experience and expertise of the directors, who have taken on the majority of this work since their appointment. A number of the Comp
Sign In
Follow the stocks
