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Ascent Resources announced that it has signed a binding damages-based agreement to pursue the Company's ECT and Slovenia-UK BIT arbitration claim against the Republic of Slovenia. Specifically, the company announced that it has signed a binding damages-based agreement with Enyo Law LLP, the specialist arbitration and litigation legal firm who filed the Notice of Dispute and represented the company in the pre-arbitration negotiations, to commence the arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Slovenia under the Energy Charter Treaty and UK-Slovenia Bilateral Investment Treaty. The Firm - which will also be advancing the disbursements which are expected to be incurred in the pursuit of the claim - will only be paid out of the proceeds of the arbitration in the event of a successful damages award or execution of a binding settlement agreement (if achieved sooner). According to the company, completion of the damages-based agreement is expected to occur shortly once the condition precedents, which include certain conditions that do not depend on Ascent, are met.
Ascent Resources plc
Ascent Resources has announced that given the nine-fold increase in gas prices on the European Continent it is now generating net revenue of at least €100,000 per month from its two producing wells in Slovenia.
Ascent is focusing on i) progressing its entry into Cuba via its exclusive rights to negotiate PSCs for onshore blocks 9A, 12 and 15, which combined cover 7,000km2, ii) an ESG metals strategy, which includes secondary mining and metal recovery opportunities and iii) arbitration proceedings in respect of its Slovenian gas assets with the Republic of Slovenia. As a reminder post period end (31 December 2020), the company raised £1.1M
Ascent Resources has announced the addition of an ESG Metals strategy alongside its current resource focus and that it has raised £1.0m by way of an oversubscribed subscription at 10.1p.
Ascent Resources announced its interim results for the period ended 30 June 2020. Over the period the company successfully restructured its board and management team. The company also restructured its RiverFort debt with the cancellation of the related equity swap agreement. The company has made material headway advancing oil & gas projects in Cuba, while instigating a new special situations strategy in Slovenia, where the company operates the Petisovci gas field.
Ascent joined AIM in 2004 and has focused on developing the large Petišovci tight gas project in Slovenia. Production began in 2017, but prolonged issues with the government over permits have stopped the optimisation of this development which has consequently resulted in significantly lower than expected gas sales which have been small. With little progress being made the share price fell substantially, promoting some big changes which have seen the arrival of a new board with a brand-new strategy. Ascent is now positioned to invest in Special Sits in the energy/natural resources across the Caribbean, Hispanic Americas & Europe, focused on diversification/growth in a low oil price environment.
Ascent Resources announced that it has submitted an application to become an operator in Cuba and that it has successfully secured £700,000 of funding to support a Cuban work program and execution of a Special Situations strategy, working capital and other purposes.
Ascent announced that Leonardo Salvadori, Non-Executive Director, will be assuming the part time role of Technical Director from 1 October 2020, leading the Company's technical work across both Cuba and Slovenia. Mr. Salvadori will therefore become an executive of the Company, relinquishing his Non-Executive duties and stepping down from the Board, effective 1 October 2020.
Immotion Group (IMMO) – Corporate – Full year results – corrective actions taken to protect the business Market Cap £10.0m Share Price 2.7p Immotion is a leading UK-based ‘out of home' Virtual Reality (VR) experience provider. This morning, the group has released full year results to 31 December 2019, broadly in line with our forecasts. Post year-end and reacting to COVID-19, management took the previously reported actions to reduce the company's cash burn, including salary reductions and the furloughing of staff, whilst the two successful fundraisings in recent months have provided additional liquidity of some £4.0m. Thalassa (THAL) – Corporate – Full year results Market Cap £7.9m Share Price 48.5p Thalassa is a holding company. Following a relatively quiet period of newsflow in 2019, this morning, the group has released full year results to 31 December 2019, illustrating loss after tax of $3.0m. As at 31 December, the book value per share is reported to have been $1.69/128p whilst the net cash position stood at $16.2m/76p per share (more recently standing at $10.5m/52p per share). Ascent Resources (AST) – Corporate – 2019 Final Results and Corporate Update Market Cap £1.3m Share Price 2.2p In March 2020, Ascent Resources announced a complete restructuring of its business, including the appointment of a new board and management team, alongside new funding and the launch of an international growth strategy; therefore, the 2019 financial results are of little materiality. Nevertheless, the results provide an important platform for the company to highlight its recent achievements and most importantly to provide an outlook for what shareholders might expect from the company over the remainder of the year and into 2021.
AST HUD THAL
Ascent Resources announced that the Administrative Court of the Republic of Slovenia has published its decision in relation to Ascent's JV partner Geoenergo d.o.o's appeal against the Slovenian environmental agency's (“ARSO's”) decision to require an Environmental Impact Assessment (“EIA”) in order to re-stimulate the PG-10 and PG-11A wells. The Court has ruled that an EIA is required.
Ascent Resources has announced that after reviewing its Slovenian assets it will pursue a dual- pronged strategy of simultaneously progressing both industrial and legal alternatives for the next three months.
ValuEngine Rating and Forecast Report for AZPN
Ascent Resources (AST) – Corporate – Corporate Restart Market Cap £3.0m Share Price 0.10p Ascent Resources has announced a number of corporate changes today, namely: James Parsons is proposed to become Executive Chairman of Ascent; The Equity Sharing Agreement with RiverFort has been cancelled with immediate effect; A 100:1 share consolidation has been proposed; An equity capital raise of £800k is proposed at 5p (post share consolidation); Ewen Ainsworth and Leonardo Salvadori have been proposed as NEDs. Certain of the proposed changes are conditional on shareholder approvals.
Ascent Resources (AST) – Corporate – Board Changes
Ascent Resources* (AST): Response to Slovenian government decision to halt drilling
Ascent Resources (AST LN) (not covered): Permitting update in Slovenia | Details on giant discovery in Kurdistan
Ascent reported revenues of £1.9M over the year ended 31 December 2018 having produced 0.4 bcf of gas and 2,930 barrels of condensate during the year. EBITDA was a loss of £0.589M and operating cash flow was positive at £0.360M. As a reminder, the company raised £1.1M over two placings in January and April 2019.
European Metals Holdings (EMH) – Corporate – Initiation of Coverage: Significant lithium resource at the heart of industrial Europe | Ascent Resources (AST) – Corporate – Strategic and Production Update
Ascent Resources plc European Metals Holdings Ltd
Ascent provided an operational update on 5 April 2018 indicating that operational issues relating to the Pg-11A well had reduced production to circa 1.4 mmcf/d from 2.5 mmcf/d in the prior month. We had been anticipating a modest production rise over the course of 2018 to 3.0 mmcf/d. We have lowered our production estimates from the company’s first two wells out until 2H 2019, reducing our fair value estimate modestly (by 0.05 p/sh). We have pushed out the date at which we anticipate the company will have commissioned a new gas plant and the related sales growth by three months to Jan 2020, which reduced our fair value estimate modestly (by 0.06p/sh). We have reduced our chance of success factor (a WHI estimate to reflect the probability that the Petisovci wells will produce consistently with the assumptions in our model) to 50% from 67%, to reflect the complications at the Pg-11A well, which reduced our estimate of fair value by 0.66p/sh. We ascribe the company with a fair value of 2.34p/sh (from 3.11 p/sh before putting our estimates under review of 5 April 2018). An updated valuation table is provided on page 3 of this note.
Ascent announced that it has received a request for further information from the Slovenian Environmental Agency in respect of the progression of its IPCC permit approval. As a reminder, the permit will allow the company to construct a gas plant that would upgrade gas such that it could be sold for the highest price possible directly into the Slovenian grid. Currently, the company is exporting gas to Croatia. In our opinion, the award of the IPCC permit would also signal the beginning of a growth phase for the company as we believe once it has decided on a definitive monetisation plan (the company has options) we anticipate a period of investment and growth in the Petisovci gas field.
Ascent Resourced (AST.L)
We reiterate our Buy rating and 4.5p target price on Ascent Resources following its 2016 results, which contain no surprises. 2016 was a transformative year for the company and 2017 has continued the positive progress, with first gas sales reported from the Petisovci field, following the successful recompletions of the Pg-10 and Pg-11a wells. The next major catalyst will be confirmation that the IPPC permit is finally secured, allowing Ascent to press on to a full development of its valuable asset.
We reiterate our Buy rating and 4.5p target price for Ascent Resources, following the news of first commercial gas production at the Petisovci field in Slovenia. The company has delivered against all the targets communicated six months ago, when funding was secured to progress the first phase field development. With a final confirmation of the IPPC permit expected later this year, Ascent can progress to the full field development, the unrisked NPV of which we estimate at roughly €200m, net to Ascent.
Ascent Resources (AST.L) – BUY*: First Gas
Ascent Resources (AST.L) – BUY*: Operations update
We increase our target price on Ascent Resources from 3.5p to 4.5p following the successful Pg-10 well flow test, as this substantially derisks the initial phase 1 project and gives greater confidence in the full field development at its Petisovci gas field in NE Slovenia. The flow test delivered a maximum flow rate of 8.8MMcfd, with an average rate of 6.7MMcfd during the 37 hour test, significantly above the minimum required under the INA contract. We expect first production and first cash flows later this quarter.
Ascent Resources (AST LN) (not covered): Operational update in Slovenia
Ascent Resources (AST.L) – CORP: Operations update Market Cap: £18.4m; Current Price: 1.7p
We reiterate our Buy rating on Ascent following the announcement that the company has successfully raised £4.5m and increase our target price to 3.5p from 3.3p. This should provide Ascent with sufficient funds to complete the programme of works required to bring the Petišovci field into production in early 2017, allowing Ascent to derisk the broader resource base ahead of a full field development in 2018. The key remaining risk for Ascent is now well productivity but visibility on first gas has now significantly improved.
We initiate coverage of Ascent Resources with a Buy rating and 3.3p target price. Ascent is operating the Petisovci tight gas field in Slovenia, which is projected to produce 35mmcfd by 2021, equivalent to roughly 40% of total Slovenian gas demand, and will likely displace expensive, imported Russian gas. Notwithstanding uncertainties regarding well productivity and short-term funding, the market is valuing Ascent’s gas resources at a significant discount to our very conservative risked NAV and also to comparable, gas-focused E&Ps
