8 Nov 2013 07:00
November 8, 2013
Anglo Pacific Group PLCInterim Management Statement
Anglo Pacific Group PLC ("Anglo Pacific", the "Group" or the "Company") (LSE: APF) (TSX: APY) today releases its interim management statement for the period July 1, 2013 to November 7, 2013.
Highlights
· Royalty income in the third quarter of £3.2m (Q3 2012: £5.0m), driven by royalty income from Kestrel
· Cash and cash equivalents of £13.0m as at September 30, 2013 (£16.4m at June 30, 2013)
· Appointment of Julian Treger and Mark Potter as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer respectively, and election onto the Board
· Issue of 1,282,049 new ordinary shares in the Company for total proceeds of £2.5m
· Announcement of strategic co-investment agreement with FlowStream Commodities Ltd, as part of an oil and gas royalties and streaming venture
Julian Treger, Chief Executive Officer of Anglo Pacific, commented:
"The Company remained profitable in the third quarter with steady income from Kestrel. Given that 2013 to date has been a challenging period for commodities and the mining sector, we are encouraged by our performance. We are also pleased to have partnered with FlowStream, whose expertise and deal flow in the oil & gas sector will prove invaluable as we seek to further diversify into cash producing assets."
For further information:
Anglo Pacific Group PLC +44 (0) 20 3435 7400
Julian Treger - Chief Executive Officer
Mark Potter - Chief Investment Officer
Georgia Vranaki - Head of Marketing and IR
Kevin Flynn - Chief Financial Officer
Website: www.anglopacificgroup.com
Liberum Capital +44 (0) 20 3100 2000
Chris Bowman
Ryan de Franck
Bell Pottinger +44 (0) 20 7861 3232
Lorna Spears
James MacFarlane
Notes to editors:
About Anglo Pacific Group PLC
Anglo Pacific Group PLC is a global natural resources royalties company. The Company's strategy is to expand its mineral royalty interests in long-life assets. The Company achieves this through both direct acquisition and investment in projects at the development and production stage. It is a continuing policy of the Company to pay a substantial proportion of these royalties to shareholders as dividends.
Portfolio Highlights
Producing royalties
Royalty income has remained steady with royalty entitlements for Q3 2013 of £3.2m (Q3 2012: £5.0m), making a total of £11.5m for the year to September 30, 2013 (£12.9m for the same period in 2012).
Income from Kestrel in the third quarter was £2.7m (Q3 2012: £4.5m), making a total of £7.1m for the year to September 30, 2013 (£10.3m for the same period in 2012). Production is now firmly in the new Kestrel South mine, and will move into and out of the Company's royalty land during the mining of the first panels over the next few years until 2016, when production is expected to move fully into Anglo Pacific's royalty land. The weakening of the Australian dollar throughout 2013 has impacted on the reported royalty income.
Income from other producing royalties in Q3 2013 amounted to £0.5m (Q3 2012: £0.5m), making a total of £4.5m for the year to September 30, 2013 (£2.6m for the same period in 2012).
Development royalties
The Company was pleased to learn of the granting of an exploitation licence by the Greenland government for London Mining PLC's Isua iron ore project. This is a significant milestone in advancing this important project towards production. The Group holds a 1% gross revenue royalty on iron ore mined from the project. London Mining PLC's initial objective has been for the project to be in production by 2017.
Co-investment Agreement with FlowStream
The Company recently announced the signing of a co-investment agreement with FlowStream Commodities Ltd, an oil and gas streaming venture. This agreement provides the Company with the opportunity to participate in a number of oil and gas royalty and streaming deals. The Company was also one of the founding shareholders of FlowStream. This investment has not had a material impact on the cash position of the Company.
Board
As announced by the Company on October 21, 2013, the Company is pleased to welcome Julian Treger and Mark Potter to the Board as Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer respectively. Julian and Mark join from Audley Capital Advisors LLP, an investment advisory firm, and both have a strong track record investing in the mining sector. They bring with them a wealth of international investment support, as well as financial expertise, which will be invaluable to the Company in its next stage of growth.
As per the announcements on October 21 and November 4, 2013, the Company has issued 1,282,049 new ordinary shares in conjunction with the appointment of Julian and Mark at a price of 195 pence per share, raising a total of £2.5m. Kings Chapel International Limited, in which Julian has a beneficial interest, now holds 897,435 shares and Audley Natural Resources Master Fund Limited, in which Julian has a 44.3% shareholding, now holds 333,333 shares. Mark holds 51,281 shares. Further to the announcement on November 4, 2013, these shares were admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities on November 5, 2013.
Appointment of new Head of Marketing and Investor Relations
Georgia Vranaki will be joining the Company as the new Head of Marketing and Investor Relations, with effect from November 8, 2013. Georgia has close to ten years of experience in fundraising, client relationship management and investment execution/M&A across a range of industries. Most recently, she worked at Audley Capital Advisors LLP, supporting the firm's fundraising and investor relations initiatives. Georgia holds a MSc in Finance from Imperial College Business School and a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Outlook
The new management team at Anglo Pacific view the current market outlook as being attractive to royalty investments. The Company is well positioned to grow from a solid asset base. A pipeline of attractive royalty deals is currently being evaluated with a greater focus on projects generating near-term cash flow.
Cautionary statement on forward-looking statements and related information
Certain information contained in this press release, including any information as to future financial or operating performance and other statements that express management's expectation or estimates of future performance, constitute "forward looking statements". The words "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "believes", "estimates", "seeks", "intends", "targets", "projects", "forecasts", or negative versions thereof and other similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic and competitive uncertainties and contingencies. Further, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, estimated or intended in the forward-looking statements. The material assumptions and risks relevant to the forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to: stability of the global economy; stability of local government and legislative background; continuing of ongoing operations of the properties underlying the Group's portfolio of royalties in a manner consistent with past practice; accuracy of public statements and disclosures (including feasibility studies and estimates of reserve, resource, production, grades, mine life, and cash cost) made by the owners or operators of such underlying properties; no material adverse change in the price of the commodities underlying the Group's portfolio of royalties and investments; no material adverse change in foreign exchange exposure; no adverse development in respect of any significant property in which the Group holds a royalty or other interest, including but not limited to unusual or unexpected geological formations and natural disasters; successful completion of new development projects; planned expansions or additional projects being within the timelines anticipated and at anticipated production levels; and maintenance of mining title. If any such risks actually occur, they could materially adversely affect the Group's business, financial condition or results of operations. For additional information with respect to such risks and uncertainties, please refer to the "Risk Factors" section of our most recent Annual Information Form available on www.sedar.com and the Group's website www.anglopacificgroup.com. Readers are cautioned to consider these and other factors, uncertainties and potential events carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release only and the Group undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.