SVE.L Regulatory News (SVE)

10 May 2005 15:49

Starvest PLC10 May 2005 Starvest plc The following quarterly update, based on the Company's position at 29 April 2005, has today been posted to shareholders. Chairman's update for shareholders - May 2005 I am pleased to report continued positive progress and optimism for the future. Encouragingly, both Regency Mines and Belmore, two the Company's newerinvestments, have made have made excellent starts to trading on AIM and OFEXrespectively. Increased investor interest in Myhome, Beowulf Mining andAgricola have resulted in increased market values; our investments show asubstantial profit. We are now in discussion with the promoters of six further investmentopportunities and expect to conclude deals during 2005. Many of our investments are in the natural resources sector, so it is inevitablethat prices and therefore our net asset value will fluctuate from time to time.However, this is minimised by our increasing investment spread. • The net asset value based on mid-market closing prices on Friday 29 April 2005 was £7.097 million of which £600,000 was uninvested cash. This equates to 18.16 pence per share calculated on a fully diluted pre tax basis. • This represents a fall on the value of £8.696m at 31 January 2005, the date of our last interim report. • With the Starvest share price closing at 10.75 pence, the discount to net asset value at 29 April 2005 was 41%. • During the past three months, Starvest has made a small investment in Carpathian Resources Limited, an Australian based company recently admitted to AIM. • The Company now holds trade investments in the following companies: • Agricola Resources plc Platinum and uranium exploration www.agricolaresources.com • Belmore Resources (Holdings) plc Zinc exploration in Eire and Northern Ireland • Beowulf Mining plc Gold and coppervexploration in Sweden www.beowulf-gold.com • Black Rock Oil & Gas plc Oil and gas in Southern England and Australia www.blackrockpertroleum.com.au • Brazilian Diamonds Limited Diamond exploration in Brazil www.braziliandiamonds.com • Carpathian Resources Limited Oil and gas in the Czech and Slovak Republics • Franconia Minerals Corporation North American minerals www.franconiaminerals.com • Gippsland Limited Tantulum exploration in Egypt www.gippslandltd.com.au • Hidefield Gold plc Gold exploration in Brazil www.hidefield.com • Matisse Holdings plc Cash shell • Myhome International plc Domestic cleaning services www.myhomeplc.com • Oranje River Diamonds plc Diamonds in South Africa • Regency Mines plc Copper & nickel exploration in Australia • Sheba Exploration (UK) plc Gold exploration in Ethiopia www.shebagold.com • Southern African Resources plc High value minerals in South Africa and Botswana www.sar-plc.com • St Helens Capital plc Corporate finance advisor www.sthelenscapital.co.uk Whilst Starvest has no exclusive commitment to the natural resource sector, weremain of the view that this sector has considerable growth potential for theforeseeable future. With our increased spread, the Board believes Starvest tobe an attractive long term investment for private investors. Looking forward the Company continues to seek special situations where itsavailable cash resources may be put to good use; we will continue to takeprofits as opportunities arise. Those Shareholders who wish to receive electronic copies of announcements areinvited to register their email address on the home page of the Company website:www.starvest.co.uk. Your Board plans to announce the full year results to 31 July 2005 during lateAugust and hold the Company's Annual General Meeting during October 2005. R Bruce RowanChairman & Chief Executive 10 May 2005 Enquiries to Bruce Rowan, telephone 020 7486 3997 or to chairman@starvest.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange