15th Sep 2014 09:46
LONDON (Alliance News) - Oxus Gold PLC Monday said its pretax loss widened in the first-half as the company awaits the outcome of arbitration proceedings brought against the Republic of Uzbekistan over the loss of assets in the country.
Oxus said its pretax loss in the six months to June 30 was USD1.4 million, up from the USD1 million loss posted a year earlier.
The company, which does not generate any revenues, said the loss was pushed higher by a rise in administrative expenses in the period, up to USD993,000 from USD664,000, and by a slight rise in financial expenses to USD435,000 from USD342,000.
Oxus said the majority of its time in the past six months has been taken up by arbitration proceedings and seeking compensation related to the loss of the Amantaytau Goldfields and Khandiza mining assets.
The group is pursuing arbitration proceedings against the Republic of Uzbekistan, where the two fields are based, and is now awaiting the decision of the Paris court hearing the case.
The company went into international arbitration proceedings in August 2013, seeking damages of about USD400 million, after Uzbekistan government-backed companies initiated an audit of Oxus's Amantaytau Goldfields joint venture. Oxus alleges the audit was set up to find reasons to justify the liquidation of Amantaytau.
The company said it is confident the arbitration ruling will be in its favour and it will be awarded "fair compensation" from the loss of the two fields.
Oxus shares were up 5.9% at 2.05 pence per share Monday morning.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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