10th May 2016 09:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - Starvest PLC Tuesday said the first half of its financial year was a difficult period for the business which caused its net asset value to fall, but said markets have improved since allowing the company's NAV to recover.
The investment company targeting early-stage mineral exploration ventures said its net asset value had fallen to GBP1.07 million at the end of the first half of its financial year ended in March from GBP1.14 million at the end of September.
However, Starvest said the NAV has risen since then, recovering the declines suffered in the first half, standing at GBP1.3 million on May 6.
"It has been a difficult half year in the commodities sector and this challenging period has impacted our portfolio's net asset value," said Chairman Callum Baxter.
"The market improvements we have seen over recent months have created short term trading opportunities which have allowed us to reinvest the profits into other stocks. As such, our net asset value has increased since the period end reflecting the improving trading conditions," he added.
Starvest its pretax loss widened to GBP103,754 from the GBP85,689 loss booked a year ago.
Net current assets, in line with the fall in NAV, dropped to GBP1.1 million at the end of March 2016 from GBP2.1 million at the end of March 2015.
"Whilst the commodities market remains challenging, Starvest is well positioned to benefit as the sector picks up and it enters its next cycle," said Baxter.
"We are expecting to see a robust increase in demand for energy and metals over the medium and long term, whilst short term improvements are already apparent with interest in mining stocks having picked up over the past few weeks," he added.
Starvest is invested in a wide range of companies, the majority of which are listed in London.
Included in Starvest's portfolio is Alba Mineral Resources PLC, Ariana Resources PLC, KEFI Minerals PLC, Oracle Coalfields PLC, BMR Group PLC, Greatland Gold PLC, Regency Mines PLC and Sunrise Resources PLC.
Starvest shares were down 7.2% to 2.09 pence per share on Tuesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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