Lonrho Regulatory News (LONR)

28 Apr 2006 14:40

Lonrho Africa PLC28 April 2006 LONRHO AFRICA PLC ("Lonrho Africa" or "the Company") ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND DIRECTORATE CHANGE At today's Annual General Meeting, David Lenigas, Lonrho Africa's ChiefExecutive, made the following statement: "I am delighted to report that we are successfully implementing our newinvestment strategy that was approved by shareholders at the EGM held on 24February 2006. We are doing just what we set out to do: positioning LonrhoAfrica as a significant player once again on the African continent. The newlyadopted investment strategy focuses on the natural resources, infrastructure andleisure sectors. This new strategy follows a period wherein our Directors concentrated on thedisposal of residual assets in Africa whilst continuing to seek opportunities tomaximise shareholder value. This year we hit the ground running with two investments in mining: In March, we invested £5 million in Brinkley Mining Plc ("Brinkley"), which hassignificant uranium and molybdenum prospects in the Karoo region of SouthAfrica. We have also invested £1.5 million in South African diamond producerNare Diamonds Limited ("Nare"). Both Brinkley and Nare are seeking admission toAIM in the first half of 2006. These investments will provide Lonrho Africa withexposure to the lucrative uranium and diamond industries. I am also pleased toannounce that I will become non-Executive Chairman of Nare. We are thrilled that Nare has recently recovered a very rare 235 carat diamondfrom its Schmidtsdrift Diamond Mine in South Africa. The discovery of such alarge gem-quality diamond shows the potential for considerable upside on thisinvestment. As announced at the time of our preliminary results, I will be taking on therole of Chairman following the conclusion of this Annual General Meeting andwould like to take this opportunity to thank Christopher Mills for all his hardwork in the previous seven years as a Director, and latterly as Chairman, ofLonrho Africa." "I would also like to thank Lonrho Africa's shareholders for their continuedsupport and look forward to the future with confidence." Ends For further information, please contact: Lonrho Africa PlcDavid Lenigas, Chief Executive +44 (0)7881 825 378Emma Priestley, Executive Director +44 (0)7867 785 177 Strand Partners Limited +44 (0)20 7409 3494Simon Raggett +44 (0)7769 883 666 Cardew Group +44 (0)20 7930 0777Nadja Vetter +44 (0)7941 340 436Eden Mendel +44 (0)7887 676 603Emma Consett +44 (0)7971 468 308 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange