Last checked at 
3 May 2018 07:00
BAKER STEEL RESOURCES TRUST LIMITED
(Incorporated in Guernsey with registered number 51576 under the provisions of The Companies (Guernsey) Law, 2008 as amended)
3 May 2018
30 April 2018 Unaudited NAV Statement
Net Asset Value
Baker Steel Resources Trust Limited (the "Company") announces its unaudited net asset value per share at 30 April 2018:
Net asset value per Ordinary Share: 56.2 pence
Since 31 March 2018 the NAV per share has increased by 2.7%, primarily due to a partial recovery in the share price of Polymetal International plc on the London Stock Exchange which makes up the majority of the carrying value of the Company's largest investment, Polar Acquisition Limited.
The Company had a total of 116,139,980 Ordinary Shares in issue with a further 700,000 shares held in treasury as at 30 April 2018.
Portfolio Update
The Company's top 10 investments are as follows as a percentage of NAV:
Polar Acquisition Ltd | 42.4% |
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Bilboes Gold Limited | 12.7% |
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Cemos Group plc | 9.8% |
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Futura Resources Ltd | 8.6% |
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Metals Exploration plc | 6.4% |
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SME Inc | 4.5% |
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Black Pearl Limited Partnership | 3.9% |
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PRISM Diversified Inc | 3.7% |
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Ivanhoe Mines Limited | 3.2% |
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Nussir ASA | 3.2% |
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Other Investments | 1.7% |
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Net Cash, Equivalents and Accruals | -0.1% |
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Investment Update
Polar Acquisition Limited ("PAL")
On 13 April 2018 PAL completed the sale of its 90% interest in Polar Silver Resources Limited to Polymetal International plc ("Polymetal") for a consideration of 6,307,000 new Polymetal shares, with 90% of the consideration shares subject to a lock-up period of 180 days.
Due to geopolitical concerns over Russia, the Polymetal share price was particularly volatile during April 2018 with a low of £5.91 per share. However, it appeared to steady towards the end of the month, closing on 30 April at £7.29 per share.
PAL is planning to distribute to its shareholders the Polymetal shares it has received and, following this, the Polymetal shares will be shown as a separate investment to PAL. PAL will retain a 2-4% royalty on its 45% pro rata share of future production from the Prognoz silver project.
Metals Exploration PLC ("Metals Ex")
During April 2018, Metals Ex announced its first quarter update on its operations at the Runruno Gold Mine in the Philippines. Gold production remained disappointing at 10,593 ounces against a production of approximately 25,000 ounces targeted in the project's feasibility study. This was largely due to poor gold recoveries as a result of continuing underperformance by the BIOX® circuit.
BIOX® circuits can often take some time before operators establish the optimum operating conditions for the bacteria, and Metals Ex appears to have suffered this particularly badly. However, importantly, Metals Ex stated that during April it achieved and maintained 100% design throughput for the BIOX® circuit. It is too early to conclude that Metals Ex has resolved all the issues as it needs to demonstrate that it can maintain this performance over a longer period, but this is a significant step forward. The future profitability of Runruno is almost entirely contingent on the BIOX® circuit performing satisfactorily. During the quarter the operations generated cashflow of US$1.4 million. Had the recoveries attained the targeted 91% this cashflow would have been approximately US$8 million higher.
Further details of the Company and its investments are available on the Company's website www.bakersteelresourcestrust.com
Enquiries:
Baker Steel Resources Trust Limited +44 20 7389 8237
Francis JohnstoneTrevor Steel
Numis Securities Limited +44 20 7260 1000
David Benda (corporate)
James Glass (sales)
The Net Asset Value ("NAV") figure stated is based on unaudited estimated valuations of the underlying investments and not necessarily based on observable inputs. Such estimates are not subject to any independent verification or other due diligence and may not comply with generally accepted accounting practices or other generally accepted valuation principles. In addition, some estimated valuations are based on the latest available information which may relate to some time before the date set out above.
Accordingly, no reliance should be placed on such estimated valuations and they should only be taken as an indicative guide. Other risk factors which may be relevant to the NAV figure are set out in the Company's Prospectus dated 26 January 2015.