15th Aug 2014 09:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - Maple Energy PLC shares dropped on Friday after it said is still looking to find a strategic investor for its ethanol business and said it remains in talks with lenders to ensure it has working capital to continue operating this division.
Shares in the energy company were down 20% to 6.5 pence on the back of the news, making it the second-biggest faller on the London market.
Maple said it remains in talks to secure an equity investment for its ethanol business; it has been attempting to find an investor for the Peru-based operation since the first quarter of 2014. In July, the firm received an approach which could lead to the sale of the entire company, though Maple said the offer is conditional and preliminary in nature. Shares in the company doubled in value when the news of the offer was revealed in July.
The group said securing new investment in the ethanol business is crucial to the future of the business given the challenging market conditions and lower agriculture performance which has hit the business. Maple is still working with its lenders to ensure it has sufficient working capital to continue operating its ethanol business until a new investor is identified.
Updating on its production volumes for the first half to June 30, Maple said it harvested an aggregate amount of approximately 369,105 gross tonnes of sugar cane in the period at the plant, with the average total recoverable sugars from the sugar cane processed at around 12%.
It processed approximately 24,062 cubic metres of fuel-grade ethanol at its plant as of June 30, with the average ethanol yield from the period at around 76.2 litres per net tonne of sugar can processed.
Maple said it sold an aggregate volume of around 23,241 cubic metres of fuel-grade ethanol to Mitsui & Co Ltd, under the existing sales and distribution agreement between the two, in the period. The average price per gallon for the Mitsui sale was USD2.09.
The firm said it would close down its ethanol plant for 10 to 12 weeks as its sugar cane crop is not yet ready for harvesting.
Elsewhere, the company said it sold approximately 281,388 barrels of hydrocarbon products in the half-year, with the average sale price at USD124.70 per barrel. Average daily crude production hit 415 barrels per day.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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