16th Aug 2018 13:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - Stratex International PLC said Thursday it swung to a loss in the six months to June as it incurred losses after its subsidiary Thani Stratex Resources Ltd cancelled licences in Ethiopia.
The gold exploration & development company posted pretax loss of GBP3.3 million compared to a GBP880,000 profit a year ago. The company did not generate any revenue in the first half of the year.
"The increase in the pretax loss during the period arises primarily due to the cancellation of TSR's licences in Ethiopia which resulted in the impairment of the carrying value of the licences by TSR, and a write-off to its profit and loss of approximately USD8.7 million. Stratex's share of this write-off was approximately USD2.7 million," the company explained.
Meanwhile, in a separate release, the company said it is proposing to change its name to Oriole Resources PLC after refocusing on Africa and Europe.
The company said the change in name, which is subject to shareholders' approval, reflects a repositioning of the company following a broad reshuffle, which saw a new chief executive officer and chief financial officer appointed to the board, and a refocusing of the group's activities on "early-stage exploration and joint-venture partnerships in Africa and Europe".
The company appointed Tim Livesey as CEO in March and Bob Smeeton as CFO in June. It said it is now planning to announce further changes to its board in a "refreshing" process.
On Thursday, Stratex announced the appointment of John McGloin and as non-executive chairman and David Pelham as non-executive director with effect from September 3.
McGloin currently serves as a non-executive director of Perseus Mining Ltd and director of Caledonia Mining Corp PLC.
Pelham is currently a non-executive director of Cora Gold Ltd.
The company will hold a general meeting on September 4 where shareholders will be able to vote on the name change.
Stratex shares were trading flat at 0.36 pence each on Thursday.