AMBR.L Regulatory News (AMBR)

23 May 2007 07:01

Ambrian Capital PLC23 May 2007 Ambrian Capital plc Result of Annual General Meeting Ambrian Capital plc ("Ambrian Capital" or "the Company") announces that at itsAnnual General Meeting held yesterday all resolutions were passed. Amongst the resolutions were board changes including the appointment of WLawrence Banks CBE as non-executive Chairman of Ambrian Capital, replacingMalcolm Burne. Mr. Banks previously acted as non-executive director of AmbrianCapital and Chairman of Ambrian Partners Limited, the corporate finance andstockbroking subsidiary of Ambrian Capital. Prior to this, Mr. Banks was DeputyChairman of Robert Fleming Holdings Limited. Mr Banks updated shareholders with the following statement: "As stated in the Chairman's Statement, in the current year we will be obligedto report under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") rather thanUK GAAP. Under IFRS our portfolio investments will be valued on the Group'sbalance sheet at market value rather than the lower of cost or net realisablevalue. The group's level of profit for the current year will therefore dependupon the changes in the value of the investment portfolio during 2007 and theunrealised gains of £13.9 million as at 31 December 2006 will be reflected inreserves. Movements in value thereafter will be reflected in the profits. As stated in the accounts at 31 December 2006, the value of shareholders' equityplus unrealised gains was approximately £51 million before any tax adjustments.Though this has not been formally audited, we estimate that this will be theopening shareholders' equity as at 1 January 2007 under IFRS. Since theyear-end there has been a significant increase in value of three majorinvestments: Jubilee Platinum plc, the Golden Prospect Precious Metals Fund Ltdand Commodity Watch plc (previously 'Minesite'). Despite difficult conditions in the market for mining securities we have made agood start to the current year, reflecting the Company's exposure to the broadercommodities spectrum, including soft commodities and renewable energies. We areparticularly excited by our new agreement with Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd. in HongKong and are delighted to welcome Lee Seng Huang to the Board and David Chong ashis alternate at today's meeting. Lee Seng Huang is the Chairman of Sung HungKai & Co. Ltd., a company listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange with a marketcapitalisation of US$1.5 billion It has key businesses in Corporate Broking,Securities Finance, Corporate Finance and Consumer Finance. A team from Londonhas already visited SHK to explore possible areas of collaboration. Additionally, Charles Crick was appointed as a non-executive director of AmbrianCapital. Mr Crick trained as a solicitor with Allen & Overy and from 1996 toDecember 2004 Mr Crick was Head of Corporate Finance (joint from June 2003) anda main board director of Numis Corporation plc. Since March 2007 Ambrian Partners has been involved in several M&A transactions,notably the acquisition of a controlling stake in Monterrico Metals plc by aChinese consortium. We have taken on a number of new clients and plan to beginMarket Making activities within the coming weeks. At Ambrian Commodities, the metal traders have continued their progress whilstwe have commenced trading in soft commodities and in carbon credits, both areaswhere we believe that there are significant opportunities for our company. Ambrian Asset Management has just begun operations and we have identified anumber of areas where we believe that we can create new funds. The transformation from an investment holding company to an investment bank isfar from complete, but considerable progress has been made and we are well onthe way. I am honoured to be elected as Chairman of your company in succession to MalcolmBurne and hope that I can help to repeat the achievements he made over the past10 years. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Malcolm Burne and RichardLockwood on behalf of the Company and our shareholders. Malcolm and Richardwere the original founders of Golden Prospect plc and it was their vision whichhelped to grow the business into what Ambrian Capital is today. I am delightedthat they will continue to work alongside our asset management business on aconsultancy basis. Thank you ladies and gentleman." Further to the RNS announcement of 21 March 2007 and in accordance with Schedule2 (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies, the Company provides the followinginformation in respect of the appointment of Lee Seng Huang and Charles Crick tothe Board of the Company as Non-Executive Directors. Lee Seng Huang Current directorships Sun Hung Kai & Co. Limited. (Executive Chairman)Mulpha International Bhd.Mulpha Australia Limited.FKP Property Group Previous directorships in last five years. Lippo Limited.Lippo China Resources Limited.Auric Pacific Group Limited.MEDCO Holdings, Inc.Sun Hung Kai & Co. LimitedSHK Barton Limited (Now known as Wah Cheong Development (B.V.I.) LimitedSHK Online LimitedSun Hung Kai Online LimitedSHK Financial Data LimitedI-Market LimitedSun Hung Kai Capital Markets (Cayman) Limited (Dissolved)Upper Selection Investments LimitedEarnest Finance LimitedMiliconcept Credit Limited (Striking off in process)SHK Finance LimitedTop Progress Investments Limited Charles Crick Current directorships/Partnership interests Ambrian Partners Limited.Dial a TV Group Holdings Limited.Longbow Capital LLPMoonguard LLP Previous directorships in last five years. Numis Corporation PLC.Numis Securities Limited.Numis Education Limited.Numis Corporate Finance Limited.Abbey Legal Holdings Limited. Sun Hung Kai & Co. Ltd owns 9,806,250 shares in Ambrian Capital representing9.03% of the issued share capital in the Company. Charles Crick owns 50,000 shares representing 0.05% of the issued share capitalof the Company. No other information is required to be disclosed pursuant to Rule 17 andSchedule 2g of the AIM Rules. Enquiries Tom Gaffney Tel: +44 (0) 20 7776 6400Chief Executive, Ambrian Capital plc Simon Atkinson Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8306Collins Stewart Europe Cathy Malins / Annabel Leather Tel: +44 (0) 20 7851 7480Parkgreen Communications Ambrian Capital plc, formerly Golden Prospect plc, is an independent investmentbank quoted on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange(Ticker: AMBR) which has three wholly-owned subsidiaries: Ambrian PartnersLimited, a corporate finance advisor and stockbroker; Ambrian CommoditiesLimited, an Associate Member of The London Metal Exchange and a broker-dealer ofLME traded metals, precious metals, carbon credits and soft commodities; andAmbrian Asset Management Limited, a specialist investment management business.Further information about the Group is available on Ambrian Capital's website:www.ambrian.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange