Pineapple Power, a special purpose acquisition company to seek and acquire businesses in the clean energy sector, has Joined the Main Market (Standard) raising gross proceeds of £1,316,010 (PNPL.L) Vector Capital (VCAP.L) has joined AIM, a commercial lending Group that offers secured loans primarily to businesses located in the UK. Substantially all of the Group's loans are secured by a first legal charge against real estate. The Group's customers typically borrow for general working capital purposes, bridging, land development and acquisition. As of 30 September 2020, the Group had a loan book of £34.7m, with an average loan size of approximately £0.57m. Raised £3.1m at 38p. Mkt Cap on admission £16m. Reverse take-over under rule 14 by MelodyVR (AIM:MVR) Group of Rhapsody International, trading as Napster. Napster is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of MelodyVR Group. The enlarged group will combine the service offerings of MelodyVR and Napster, offering music fans a consolidation of music artist's repertoires including recorded music, short form video content, long form video content, digitally ticketed live streams, educational videos and immersive AR/VR content, into one premium subscription product. Raising $10.1m. Market cap £92.4m at 3.75p. Eddie Stobart Logistics (ESL.L) has converted to an AIM investing company. Name change to Logistics Development Group. Focus sectors: logistics, transport, warehousing and e-fulfilment assets. £9m raised via a placing and subscription and up to £7m via open offer. Market cap c.£35.1m. Horizon Discovery has cancelled its AIM listing. Formation Group has left the Aquis Stock Exchange.
Companies: ZPHR MSMN NCCL IDE CIC GFM SRE GWMO JOG GDP
Goldplat today provides us with its preliminary results for the year ending June 2020. As previously reported, this was a strong year for the company as it capitalised on its change in strategy away from mining and exploration to refocus on its core capabilities in gold recovery from a wide variety of wastes produced as a result of gold mining and processing. Significantly, the Kilimapesa mine in Kenya was disposed of in year (details to be finalised) with Goldplat exposed to any future upside. The P&L and balance sheet have been restated for 2019 due to the focus on the gold recovery but we see no implications for cashflow arising from this; and Goldplat still shows a significant amount of cash relative to its market cap. Headline PBT for 2020 was £5.7m (2019 restated £1.1m) with gross cash at end of period of £3.1m (£2.4m). With a current strong gold price environment and an improved sight of gold processing contracts we expect 2021 to be a more profitable, and cash generative year.
Companies: Goldplat plc
Beowulf Mining (BEM LN) – Wolf Mountain Geophysics Results Define High Priority Drill Targets | Chaarat Gold* (CGH LN) – Buy, 57p – $20.5m refinancing completed | Goldplat (GDP LN) – Quarterly results indicate progress in South Africa and Ghana | Kavango Resources (KAV LN) – Mineralogical study and sample analysis indicates presence of primary magmatic sluphides | KEFI Gold and Copper* (KEFI LN) – Q3 update highlights Tulu Kapi funding progress and Hawiah maiden resource/PEA | Power Metal Resources* (POW LN) – Drilling contract signed at Canadian silver project
Companies: BEM CGH GDP KAV KEFI POW
Goldplat the processor of gold-bearing wastes and residues from mining operations today reports on its first quarter ending Septe2020. As expected the company continues to maintain robust operating profits from its South African operation (£1.12m, up from £1.07m in the same period last year) and an increased operating profit from its Ghana operation (£0.28m up from £23k). Goldplat is in the process of selling its Kilimapesa gold mine in Kenya which contributes small operating losses to the Groups overall performance with the sale expected to finalise by the end of December.
Goldplat today provides an update on the sale of its Kilimapesa asset in Kenya. The sale process continues with many of the conditions already met and with the parties now agreeing to extend the period of exclusivity until the end of December 2020.
Goldplat today provides an update on the proposed sale of its Kilimapesa gold mine in Kenya. Further to the announcement on the 3rd July of the sale, Goldplat can confirm that the ultimate buyer of Kilimapesa will be Papillon Holdings plc (LSE:PPHP) through Mayflower Capital Investments Pty, subject to the appropriate regulatory and shareholder approvals and a minimum raise of $4m to fund the development of Kilimapesa's operations. A £50,000 exclusivity fee has been paid to Goldplat and Mayflower's team are on site completing due diligence and over-seeing the start-up of the plant. The fee to Goldplat of $1.5m, payable in shares, remains the same.
AEX Gold (AEXG.L) has joined AIM alongside a £42.5m placing at 45p. Mkt Cap £79.7m. The Company, led by CEO Eldur Ólafsson, has established the largest land package of gold assets in Greenland with a current portfolio of licences covering 3,356 square kilometres, in the two known gold belts in Southern Greenland, the Nanortalik and Tartoq gold belts. Nalunaq is a high-grade gold asset with an updated Inferred Mineral Resource covering 422,770 tonnes at 18.5 grams per tonne of gold, or 250,970 ounces of gold, which covers the area in and around the historical mine. AEX has an existing listing on the TSX Venture Exchange
Companies: PYC THR PRP GDP YOU BBB MRL ONC RENE
Goldplat announces that it has agreed a sale for its Kilimapesa Gold mine, currently on care-and-maintenance, in Kenya. Under the binding Term Sheet, Goldplat will sell the mine to Mayflower Capital Investments Pty Limited for USD1.5m in Mayflower Shares plus a 1% Net Smelter Return royalty capped at USD1.5m. Mayflower will look to list Kilimapesa in London and will seek to raise USD4m to recapitalise the business properly. Goldplat will keep its shares in Mayflower in escrow for 12 months.
European Metals Holdings today announce that a support and financing agreement with EIT InnoEnergy, the principal facilitator and organiser of the European Battery Alliance has been agreed. This agreement is to help progress at the large Cinovec Lithium project in the Czech Republic, a JV for which has just been set up between European Metals Holdings and the large Czech utilities Group CEZ to fully fund the project through Feasibility and to a construction decision. Goldplat today provides an update on its Q4 2020 and the end of its financial year (FY2020). Despite the best efforts of COVID Goldplat has had an excellent year. Overall business units in Ghana and South Africa have seen an increase in profit levels, and losses have been stemmed from the Kilimapesa mine in Kenya which is now on care-and-maintenance. Cash at the end of June was £3.2m. Digitalbox is an AIM-quoted digital publishing company, currently owning two distinct digital media assets and with a scalable platform to grow through acquisition. This morning the group has provided a trading update for the six month period to 30 June 2020. H1 2020E revenue is reported to be flat against the prior period on a comparative basis at c.£1.0m, reflecting increased audience volumes being offset by the well-publicised fall off in digital advertising pricing. However, despite this present backdrop, H1 2020E adj. PBT is anticipated ahead of management's expectations due to a strong margin performance in the period; this driven by changes made to improve operational efficiencies. Encouragingly, as at 30 June, the cash balance has increased by £0.6m to £1.2m. With this morning's announcement, NBB has confirmed that the thorough overhaul of the company in recent years has continued to bear fruit notwithstanding the pandemic. Notably, the news that the company has been EBITDA positive in H1 is a tribute to the proactive actions taken by the management in (1) building new businesses which now make up more than half of the group, and which continue to progress, (2) taking out significant costs, and (3) developing tailored solutions for clients which incorporate all of the separate business strands as required. We view the achievement in a particularly positive light since the market for Executive Search has been challenging as a result of the global Covid situation.
Companies: GDP NBB DBOX
Gold – Robust pricing, improved returns and increased interest The robust gold price, currently sitting comfortably above $1,700/oz, has been one of the bright spots of the current COVID crisis, although the roots of the price increase were seen well before from mid-2019 on geopolitical and trade concerns. Gold mining companies have been reaping the rewards of the higher price with forecast profits and cash expected to grow significantly. The increase in gold price has been reflected by share price appreciation for most of the gold-mining sector; gold miners, those companies developing gold projects and even gold explorers have all seen an uptick in share prices. Those companies in production should see considerably higher profits and we expect the level of dividends back to shareholders to rise. The rate of M&A in the sector might also increase, as in previous high price periods, with some companies assuming that these prices can be sustained – however, they will have to be careful as a rash of M&A in previous cycles has shown that there may be a price to pay later on and the industry can ill afford a return to eye-wateringly large write-downs on the other side of this cycle. Gold miners will also have to behave prudently as there will, of course, be a temptation for higher throughput and production, regardless of grade, to generate more cash – a decreasing profit margin perhaps, but a lengthening mine life; as in everything there is a balance to be made to ensure sensible returns. We are most heartened by a renewed interest in the previously (seemingly) ignored junior explorers which we think is a theme that will develop and continue.
Companies: AEE CMCL CNG GDP JLP
Goldplat, the gold recovery company, today provides an operational update for the quarter ending March 2020 (FY Q3). Operating profit from the South African and Ghanaian recovery plants was £1.0m in Q3, which was slightly offset by a small loss at the Kilimapesa mine in Kenya of £0.2m; the mine is on Care-and-Maintenance. This saw a 9 month operating profit overall of £3.3m which is a significant improvement on the same period last FY where operating profit was (0.3)m.
Goldplat, which provides gold recovery services, today provides an update on its operations following the order from the South African Government to place operations on Care-and-maintenance for 21 days.
Interims show the improvement – Goldplat delivering on expectation Goldplat's Interims (six months to December 2019) today provide some background to the excellent operational update presented by the company at the end of January. To recap, Goldplat provides a unique gold recovery service to the mining industry by recovering gold from waste products produced by the mining cycle (see full note of 6/11/2019). The mainstay of its cash generation comes from its established recovery operation in South Africa (£2.6m operating profit for the half year) where it has regular contracts in place, a stockpile of its own material and a flexible plant. In Ghana, Goldplat looks to the gold industry in West Africa for feed and also as an overseas import location for high-grade wastes – and is making progress on new contracts with a welcome return to operating profit in the period (£0.2m). The Kilimapesa mine in Kenya is now on care-and-maintenance with Goldplat seeking a partner or sale of the project. We update our forecasts today and see fair value at 12.5p/sh.
Caspian Sunrise announced yesterday at 10:25AM the proposed acquisition of the Caspian Explorer, a drilling vessel designed specifically for the challenges of the North Caspian Sea, for a consideration of $25M to be satisfied by the issuance of 160,256,410 shares in Caspian Sunrise at a price of 12p (a premium of 27.7% relative to the prior day's closing price). Goldplat, the gold recovery specialist, has provided an operational update today for the six months ending Dec 31st 2019. Although full accounts will not be released until the end of February, details in today's RNS show substantial progress across the board. Oriole, the West-African focussed gold explorer, today announces an update from exploration in Cameroon – specifically the Bibemi licence where the company is earning a 90% stake.
Companies: Caspian Sunrise PLC (CASP:LON)Goldplat plc (GDP:LON)
Goldplat produces gold from a variety of precious-metal bearing mine wastes through its two recovery plants in South Africa and Ghana and, until May it also operated a small gold mine in Kenya – Kilimapesa. After a disappointing few years for its mining division Goldplat is now concentrating on its core capabilities – gold recovery from waste. Recent results underplay the ongoing profitability of the gold recovery operations with an operating profit £1.5m which had been dragged down by losses of £1.9m in the mining segment. With the Kilimapesa mine now on care-and-maintenance, and with Goldplat seeking a JV partner to take on the capex requirement at the mine, we see a return to ongoing profitability in FY 2020 and beyond. South Africa is the mainstay of operations, with every effort being made to source new quality material for the Ghanaian recovery operation. An increase in the gold price is a welcome sign for Goldplat – not least in increased expected revenues but also for increased activity in the sector and the generation of more waste to treat. Goldplat is in a potential turnaround situation and remains a unique business and one with a difficult to replicate capability. On a SOTP basis, and using conservative parameters, we see fair value at 8.9p/sh.
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Central Asia Metals (CAML LN) has reported Q4 2020 production with 3,365t of copper taking full year output to 13,855 in line with our forecast of 13.9kt and at the top end of guidance. Q4 lead output was 7,442t meaning 29,741t over the full year, up 2% YoY and in line with our forecast of 30kt while zinc output of 5,848t took full year output to 23,815t again in line with our forecast of 24kt and up 2% YoY despite the disruption at Sasa which CAML has overcome rapidly as we expected.
Companies: Central Asia Metals Plc
Jubilee put out an intraday press release yesterday updating on the performance in the first half (ending Dec 2020) of the FY 2021. Once again Jubilee delivers; significantly increased revenues and profits from its chrome and PGM division in South Africa and a small, but important, contribution from Zambia. Notably this improvement isn't just from commodity price performance; rather increased production, productivity, throughput, renegotiated contracts and all set alongside the strong performance of commodity prices –rhodium, palladium and platinum. We see this as still only the start for Jubilee as we look forward to the first copper oxide concentrates from the Roan project in Zambia to the Sable Refinery – where the Roan plant is currently under construction. Once again we are struck by the speed at which Jubilee moves to advance its projects and, with its South African cash engine showing no signs of slowing down. Jubilee can choose to move its wider ambitions in Zambia forward from internally generated cash flow. On the back of the strong performance we put our forecasts under review.
Companies: Jubilee Metals Group PLC
Anglesey Mining (AYM LN) – Mineral resources and PEA for Parys Mountain Castillo Copper (CCZ LN) – Further assay results from drilling at the Big One project in Queensland Central Asia Metals (CAML LN) – Stable production reported in 2020 with final dividend to be announced in March IronRidge Resources* (IRR LN) – Sale of non-core gold project Keras Resources* (KRS LN) – Keras increase stake in the Daiamond Creek organic phosphate mine to 51% Power Metal Resources* (POW LN) – Molopo Farms drilling highlights nickel and PGM potential Tertiary Minerals* (TYM LN) – Progress of Nevada exploration
Companies: POW AYM CAML KRS TYM CCZ IRR
The revised threshold for the imposition of Supplemental Petroleum Tax (SPT) has now been implemented, with the threshold at which SPT is due increasing from US$50/bbl to US$75/bbl for the financial years 2021 and 2022. As a result, we expect Trinity to be exempt from SPT across all of its onshore licences below US$75/bbl. Using the forward WTI oil price curve as the basis for our model, we currently forecast Trinity paying no SPT during 2021 and 2022. We estimate that at the current forward price curve (2021: US$52/bbl) cUS$3.6m of SPT would have previously been payable by Trinity in 2021. As such, these SPT reforms represent a considerable boost to potential cash flow generation from Trinity's onshore licences should realisations average above US$50.01/bbl for any calendar quarter during 2021 and 2022. We update our model, increasing our price target to 32p (from 31p) a 160% premium to the current share price and reiterate our BUY recommendation.
Companies: Trinity Exploration & Production Plc
Trading update
Companies: Hurricane Energy Plc
Union Jack Oil (UJO) has announced that the workover rig, associated services and equipment were mobilised to the Wressle oilfield development site during the week commencing 4 January 2021. The company, which holds a 40% economic interest in Wressle, expects that operations to enable the primary Ashover Grit reservoir to be flowed will be completed prior to the end of January 2021. With the field expected to commence production at a constrained rate of 500 bopd, UJO’s net production will be boosted by an additional 200 bopd providing valuable cash flow to the company in 2021.
Companies: Union Jack Oil Plc
We put forward a fair value estimate to 82.8p for Pantheon Resources from “under review for an upward revision” as from 25 November 2020 and from 75p as per our initiation note dated 11 November 2020.
Companies: Pantheon Resources plc
Arc Minerals* (ARCM LN) – Arc Minerals extends exclusivity agreement with Anglo for a further 180 days Cornish Metals* (CUSN CN) – Intention to float on AIM market Greatland Gold (GGP LN) – Newcrest approves A4146m for preparatory mining work at Havieron IronRidge Resources* (IRR LN) – Drilling defines multiple targets at Ewoyaa Lithium Project Kenmare Resources (KMR LN) – 2020 production and 2021 guidance Sunrise Resources (SRES LN) – Progress report on projects Zamare Minerals* (Private) - Zamare announce agreement with First Quantum Minerals over the Ntambu exploration license in Zambia
Companies: CUSN ARCM GGP KMR SRES IRR
Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC LN)C; Target Price: 6.70p: Funding update – BPC has exercised a put option to raise £3.75 mm priced at 2p per share. PetroTal (PTAL LN/TAL CN)C: Target Price increased from £0.45 to £0.50: US$100 mm bond to accelerate activities and grow production - PetroTal is launching a bond issue to raise US$100 mm. This would allow the firm to accelerate drilling and development activities at Bretana (~US$40 mm), clean up its balance sheet, put in place a hedging programme and allow the firm to consider regional acquisitions. Assuming the extra funding is put in place, we are increasing our capex programme for 2021 from US$40 mm to US$90 mm. We are also increasing our production forecast for 2021 from ~11 mbbl/d to ~15 mbbl/d that we maintain broadly flat in 2023 as we assume PetroTal will drill additional wells before production starts to decline from 2024. We note that the 3P case only assumes five additional wells (~US$70 mm) compared to the 2P case. With more production, we are now forecasting operating cashflow of ~US$170 mm in 2022 and ~US$155 mm in 2023. We are also increasing our Core NAV from £0.43 per share to £0.52 per share. The additional funding would also allow the company to drill exploration wells such as the 70 mmbbl Constitucion prospect (£0.40 per share Unrisked). Pharos Energy (PHAR LN)C; Increasing our target price from £0.35 to £0.40 per share on reserves uplift – The highlight of Pharos’ operational update is the ~40% increase in 2P reserves in Egypt expected as at YE20 (YE19 28.5 mmbbl). This reflects improved waterflood performance based on recent field data, and a new drilling and workover plan for 2021 onwards. Drilling is expected to recommence in Vietnam in 3Q21, a quarter earlier than previously announced. We have increased our target price from £0.35 per share to £0.40 per share to factor in the expected increase in reserves in Egypt. We estimate the value of Pharos based on Vietnam only at £0.23-0.27 per share. This is 15-35% above the current share price. Securing a partner to fund a development programme with four rigs in Egypt would increase the value of the ~ 40 mmbbl 2P reserves in Eqypt and unlock the contingent and 108 mmbbl prospective resources. Our incremental unrisked value for the four rig programme is £0.17-0.19 per share (~85% upside to the current share price). Successfully negotiating new terms with EGPC could lead to an improvement of up to US$6/bbl in the breakeven price. We have previously estimated that securing similar terms to TransGlobe would boost our Core NAV by £0.10-0.12 per share and ReNAV by £0.13-0.15 per share. TransGlobe Energy’s share price has tripled since the new terms on its licences were announced. Tethys Oil (TETY SS)C; Target Price: SEK75.00: Production update in Oman – Production at Block 3&4 in December was 11,481 bbl/d. Vaalco Energy (EGY LN/US)C; Target Price: £4.00: Initiating Coverage - VAALCO is a US and UK listed ~£75 mm market cap, ~10 mbbl/d oil producer (pro-forma) with West African assets. VAALCO has an excellent track record as an operator having grown a 30 mmbbl discovery in Gabon to a field that has produced >118 mmbbl so far with an additional 37 mmbbl remaining 2P reserves plus ~80 mmbbl upside at YE19. The shares have suffered in the past from (1) a lack of materiality as VAALCO held only ~31% of its main asset, with G&A viewed as representing a disproportionate amount of cash flow and (2) lack of visibility on how the significant amount of cash on the balance sheet would be deployed. The US$44 mm acquisition of an additional ~28% WI in Etame announced in November, thereby almost doubling production, reserves and resources overnight, has addressed these issues. The story is now about continuing to grow reserves at the producing Gabonese field and to replicate this success elsewhere. With estimated net cash of >US$25 mm at the end of 1Q21, VAALCO’ s shares trade at less than half our 2P NAV of ~£2.70 per share. The current share price discounts an EV/DACF multiple of 1.2x in 2021. Low risk infill drilling of contingent resources could add ~£0.45 per share (30% of share price) with an overall unrisked value for the upside at the producing asset of £4.80 per share (~4x the current share price). Finalizing the farm out of its asset in Equatorial Guinea could start unlocking a further £4.20 of unrisked value. Our target price of £4.00 per share (~ our ReNAV) represents ~230% upside. Wentworth Resources (WEN LN)C; Target Price: £0.40: >100 mmcf/d reached in December - FY20 gross production was 65.36 mmcf/d (in the middle of the 60-70 mmcf/d guidance) with ~83 mmcf/d on average during the month of December. Repairs to the MB-2 flowline were completed on 9 December, increasing the capacity of the field to over 100 mmcf/d. Production reached 103 mmcf/d for five days during that month. Gross production guidance for FY21 is 65-75 mmcf/d, below the 80 mmcf/d we were carrying as production growth is pushed back by a year. Cash on hand of ~US$18 mm is in line with our expectations. With 70 mmcf/d gross production in 2021 and almost no capex, we forecast FY21 Free Cash Flow of ~US$10 mm. With FY20 dividends of only US$3.2 mm and ~US$18 mm in cash, we believe there is scope to increase the dividend. At the current share price, the FY20 dividend represents a yield of ~6%. Even after the recent share price appreciation, the shares continue to trade at EV/DACF multiples of 2.9x in 2021 and 2.2x in 2022. This compares with 3.8x for 2020, suggesting there is room for multiple expansion given the stable nature of the business. IN OTHER NEWS ________________________________________ AMERICAS 88 Energy (88E LN/AU): Acquisition in Alaska – 88 Energy is acquiring the Umiat Oil Field, located on the North Slope of Alaska. The proceeds consist of a 4% overriding royalty interest and the assumption of the abandonment liability of two historic wells (at an estimated cost of ~US$1 mm). Umiat is an historic oil discovery, made in 1945 in shallow Brookian (Nanushuk) sandstones, located immediately adjacent to southern boundary of Project Peregrine. The Umiat-23H well was flow tested at a sustained rate of 200 bbl/d with no water in 2014. Gross 2P reserves were estimated at 123.7 mmbbl on 1 December 2015. Equinor (EQNR NO): Farming down Argentinian offshore exploration to Shell - Equinor and YPF farm-down 30% interests in the CAN 100 block, located in the North Argentinian Basin to Shell. Pantheon Resources (PANR LN): Dispute in East Texas and acquisition of new acreage - Kinder Morgan has filed a petition against Pantheon, seeking payment of ~US$3.35mm with respect to the early termination of a Gas Treating Agreement between Kinder Morgan and Vision Operating Company. In a separate statement, the company indicated it has acquired 100% interest in ~66,000 acres in the State of Alaska's North Slope Areawide Lease Sale. The new leases are positioned in two areas contiguous to the company’s current acreage. Parex Resources (PXT CN): Operation update in Colombia – 4Q20 production was 46,550 boe/d compared to Parex’ guidance of 45,500-47,500 boe/d. 1Q21 production is expected to average 46,500-47,500 boe/d. The Brent/Vasconia differential is currently ~US$2/bbl. Parex estimates a cash position of US$325 mm at YE20. Total (FP FP): Discovery in Suriname - The Keskesi East-1 well, in Block 58, encountered a total of 63 meters net pay of hydrocarbons, comprised of 58 meters net black oil, volatile oil, and gas pay in good quality Campano-Maastrichtian reservoirs, along with 5 meters of net volatile oil pay in Santonian reservoirs. EUROPE Independent Oil & Gas (IOG LN): Operating update in the UK – Phase 1 remains on schedule for First Gas in 3Q21. Drilling is expected to start in early 2Q21. Hurricane Energy (HUR LN): Operating update in the UK North Sea - Production for the final four months of 2020 averaged 12,500 bbl/d. Current water cut is 25%. YE20 net free cash was US$106 mm, compared to US$87 mm at 30 November 2020. Lundin Energy (LUNE SS): Resources increase in Norway – YE20 2P reserves are 670.9 mmboe (+ 39.3 mmboe versus YE19). The YE20 2C resources are 275.5 mmboe (+90.2 mmboe et YE19). OMV (OMV AG): Trading update – 4Q20 production was 472 mboe/d including 290 mboe/d of natural gas. FORMER SOVIET UNION Enwell Energy (ENW LN): Operating update in the Ukraine – 4Q20 production was 4,444 boe/d. At YE20, the company held US$61 mm in cash. Petroneft (PTR LN): Potential acquisition in Russia – Petroneft is looking to acquire an additional 40% interest in Licence 67 from Belgrave Naftogas for US$2.9 mm including US$1.2 mm in shares and the balance in cash. MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Gulf Keystone Petroleum (GKP LN): Operating update in Kurdistan – FY20 gross production at Shaikan was 36,625 bbl/d with current production of 44,000 bbl/d. As at 12 January 2021, the Company had a cash balance of US$147 mm. FY21 gross production guidance has been set at 40,000 to 44,000 bbl/d with US$15 to $20 mm net capex and US$2.5 to US$2.9/bbl opex. ShaMaran Petroleum (SNM CN): Terms update for bonds – ShaMaran is looking to use free cash in excess of US$15 mm to buy back its Bonds in the market to satisfy the cash sweep redemption requirements. United Oil & Gas (UOG LN): Production update in Egypt – 2H20 WI production was 2,340 boe/d in line with guidance for the period of 2,300 boe/d. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA BW Energy (NEW NO): Farm-in transaction in Namibia – BW Energy is acquiring 39% WI in the Kudu offshore licence from the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR). BW will pay US$4 mm in cash and carry NAMCOR’s share of development costs until first gas. NAMCOR will also have the opportunity to acquire an additional 5% working interest post first gas. Orca Energy (ORC.A/B CN): Update in Tanzania – FY20 sales volumes were 57.7 mmcf/d. Cash and short-term investments totalled US$103.8 mm at YE20. As at YE20 there were no current receivables due from TANESCO. The TANESCO long-term trade receivable was US$27.6 mm. EVENTS TO WATCH NEXT WEEK ________________________________________ 18/01/2021: Repsol (REP SM) – Trading update 19/01/2021: Genel Energy (GENL LN) – 4Q20 trading update 20/01/2021: Cairn Energy (CNE LN): Trading update
Companies: 88E BPC EQNR HUR LUNE PXT PHAR SNM TETY TETY FP EGY WEN
European Metals has recently enjoyed a long overdue share price re-rating. The shares have increased ten-fold from Covid lows in April 2020 on the back of a marked improvement in lithium sector sentiment. EMH’s market cap is now £127m. Covid has in many ways accelerated the push towards EVs and the low carbon agenda. Europe is now the battleground for Electric Vehicles (“EVs”) where material sources, security of supply and the entire value chain is coming under ever increasing scrutiny. The DFS at EMH’s Cinovec project is due for completion by the end of 2021.The time has come for EMH and over the next 12 months we should see with more clarity how Cinovec fits into Europe’s growing EV and battery industry. We see no other project better placed to dovetail into the European battery market and supply battery-grade lithium at scale.
Companies: European Metals Holdings Limited
Central Asia Metals (CAML LN) is our top pick for exposure to copper and following the recent operational and financial normalisation the shares have jumped, up 16% since our last note. Our copper price forecast assumptions implied that during Q4 2020 the price, at that point up 47% from March lows would pause. This has not come to pass, now up 60% to eight year highs of US$7,688/t, indicating a higher starting point in 2021F and we have upgraded our forecasts accordingly.
Oil posted the biggest weekly gain since late September as Saudi Arabia's plan to slice output spurred a surge in physical crude buying. Futures in New York advanced $3.72 this week and Brent oil topped $55 a barrel for the first time since February. Saudi Arabia's pledge earlier this week to cut production by 1 million barrels a day in February and March has made for a tighter supply outlook sooner than anticipated. Meanwhile, prospects for additional stimulus under a Biden administration spurred broader market gains. Saudi Arabia's surprise cut appears to have caught some Asian buyers by surprise and demand for US crude for export to Asia has gained this week. Unipec, the trading arm of China's largest refiner, bought its eighth cargo of North Sea crude in a pricing window run by S&P Global Platts this week and was seeking more in what may be the heaviest buying of its kind on record. Brent's move above $55 a barrel caps a stellar few months for the oil market, with crude emerging as a favoured play to bet on coronavirus vaccines and global reflation. Saudi Arabia's pledge has led analysts to rethink their projections for crude's price recovery. Citigroup Inc boosted its price forecasts on Friday, saying the kingdom's actions should accelerate stockpile draws. Meanwhile, annual commodity index rebalancing may provide another tailwind, with as much as $9 billion of oil contracts possibly being bought over the five days of activity that start Friday, Citigroup said. Prices Brent for March settlement advanced $1.61 to end the session at $55.99 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate for February delivery rose $1.41 to settle at $52.24 a barrel. Both benchmarks are at the highest since late February. The kingdom's shock move has rippled across the oil market this week, with the difference between the price of oil for different months firming markedly in recent sessions. WTI's nearest contract traded at a premium to the following month for the first time since May, while the closely watched spread between the nearest two December contracts is at its strongest intraday level since last January.
Companies: FO PRP 88E DGOC EME TRIN UOG
Wressle update
• PetroTal is launching a bond issue to raise US$100 mm. This would allow the firm to accelerate drilling and development activities at Bretana (~US$40 mm), put in place a hedging programme and allow the firm to consider regional acquisitions. • Some of the proceeds of the bond issue will be used to repay the US$16.6 mm derivative liabilities to Petroperu that was formalized in November. However, with the recent upwards shift of the forward curve, the potential derivative liabilities is now an asset and Petroperu is expected to owe PetroTal ~US$8 mm. Under the current forward curve, PetroTal should therefore now receive a total of ~US$25 mm (=US$16.6 mm + US$8 mm) from Petroperu from the settled oil profits during 1Q21. • Assuming the extra funding is put in place, we are increasing our capex programme for 2021 from US$40 mm to US$90 mm. We are also increasing our production forecast for 2021 from ~11 mbbl/d to ~15 mbbl/d that we maintain broadly flat in 2023 as we assume PetroTal will drill additional wells before starting to decline from 2024. We note that the 3P case only assumes five additional wells (~US$70 mm) compared to the 2P case. • Current production has now increased from 9.5 mbbl/d last week to 10 mbbl/d. • PetroTal has now also signed an agreement for a second pilot shipment through Brazil in February 2021, of up to 220,000 barrels of oil. Positive impact on cash flow and NAV With more production, we are now forecasting operating cashflow of ~US$170 mm in 2022 and ~US$155 mm in 2023. We are also increasing our Core NAV from £0.43 per share to £0.52 per share. The additional funding would also allow the company to drill exploration wells such as the 70 mmbbl Constitucion prospect (£0.40 per share Unrisked). We are increasing our target price from £0.45 per share to £0.50 per share in line with our new Core NAV. Our target price represents over 3x the current share price.
Companies: PetroTal Corp.
Further media reports that Dr Martens, the British Boot brand is planning an IPO on the LSE. It is currently owned by PE group, Permira who is expected to sell down its stake at the IPO. March 2020 YE the group had revenues of £672m and EBITDA of £184m. Deal size TBC. Upon Admission to AIM, Nightcap will acquire The London Cocktail Club Limited (the "London Cocktail Club"), which is an award winning independent operator of ten individually themed cocktail bars in nine London locations and one location in Bristol. Offer TBC Due mid Jan. HSS Hire Group, HSS.L transfer from Main to Aim. Mkt Cap c. £70m. Recently raised £52.6m. Leading supplier of tool and equipment for hire in the United Kingdom and Ireland and has provided equipment hire services in the United Kingdom for more than 60 years, primarily focusing on the B2B market. Due 14 Jan. VH Global Sustainable Energy Opportunities plc, a closed-ended investment Company focused on making sustainable energy infrastructure investments, today announces intends to launch an initial public offering of shares on the Official List (Premium) of the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. Due by Early Feb.
Companies: IUG CBP KAT APP RST DIS NICL BOKU CNIC HE1
