TIDMCLON
RNS Number : 0238N
Clontarf Energy PLC
20 September 2019
20 September 2019
Clontarf Energy plc
("Clontarf" or the "Company")
Interim Statement for the period ended 30 June 2019
Clontarf (AIM: CLON) today announces its unaudited financial
results for the six months ended 30 June 2019.
The principal focus for the period ended was ongoing discussions
with the Ghanaian authorities about the ratification of our signed
Petroleum Agreement on Tano 2A Block, and negotiating a lithium
evaporates agreement with the Bolivian authorities.
Ghanaian Tano 2A Petroleum Agreement
Ghana currently produces circa 200,000 barrels of oil per day,
from the Jubilee, and TEN oil-fields. But potential output could
increase dramatically with more pro-business policies. The latest
discovery, by ENI, as announced in May 2019, confirms Ghana's
prospectivity.
After a period of slow progress, Ghana's current NPP Government
has galvanised the licensing effort. The administration is
pro-development, and actively reviewing historic Petroleum
Agreements, with a stated focus on early exploration, discoveries
and output. During 2018 and 2019 the Ghanaian Ministry of Energy
and the Ghanaian National Petroleum Commission considered the
current re-application by Pan Andean Resources Ltd (which is owned
30% by Petrel Resources plc, 60% Clontarf, 10% local interests)
over the original Tano 2A licence block acreage in the prospective
Tano Basin, West Africa.
Clontarf and its partners have had cordial and frank discussions
leading, we believe, to a meeting of minds.
The Ghanaian authorities are now keen to resolve outstanding
issues, and drive forward with the professional and prompt
development of Ghana's oil & gas potential.
Two official bodies are reviewing dormant and pending petroleum
agreements in Ghana: the Ministry of Energy and the National
Petroleum Commission.
Accordingly, the authorities are reviewing existing Petroleum
Agreements, as well as conducting a separate bid round.
This fulfils Section 10 of the new Petroleum Exploration and
Production Act, 2016 (Act 919) requiring enforcement of a
transparency regime to better manage Ghanaian petroleum
resources.
Clontarf, and its partners, have also discussed with the
authorities the possibility of working along with GNPC regarding
the current 'Block 1' (subject to parliamentary ratification).
Separately, we understand that Erin Energy Inc., a US company
currently in Chapter 11, may soon relinquish or have abrogated that
portion of the original Tano 2A acreage that Erin Energy Inc
(formerly known as Camac Energy Inc.) was awarded in 2014 - which
led to immediate legal action by Clontarf. This would open a path
for Clontarf to recover all of the original 1,532km(2) acreage.
Ghana's prospectivity highlighted:
Ghana's prospectivity has been highlighted by yet another,
recent oil discovery, subject to two confirmatory appraisal wells,
of potentially 1 billion barrels, which could double Ghana's
production by 2021.
What transformed such projects was much lower appraisal and
development costs, a recovering oil price (currently $68),
development of the gas market, but especially the Ghanaian
government's openness to practical development approaches.
Each such discovery yields multiple additional well targets
which can, in turn, be subsequently drilled. In turn, each
development spreads and lowers infrastructure costs.
The Directors believe all outstanding issues have now been
resolved with GNPC on our Tano 2A Block, and understand that the
signed Petroleum Agreement is now being sent to the Cabinet. All
legal proceedings have been dropped and all issues resolved to our
satisfaction.
There is a mutual desire to complete the ratification process.
Our strong preference is to honour as far as possible the terms of
the existing signed Petroleum Agreement, adjusting the revised
coordinates and any other fine-tuning necessary.
Lithium in Bolivia
In addition to advancing activities in Ghana, Clontarf hopes to
participate in the ongoing lithium boom. Much of the world's
economic lithium resource is in south-western Bolivia and
neighbouring countries.
Our group has natural resources experience in Bolivia since
1988, and operated a lithium study with the Bolivian military from
2008 through 2011 - which had to be reluctantly discontinued by the
partners due to then legal uncertainty over title. This uncertainty
has now been resolved. Legal title can now be confirmed under the
recently enacted 2017 Bolivian Lithium Law. A State Lithium
Company, YLB, has now been established, which negotiates and
supervises contracts. Initial agreements have been concluded with a
German industrial design group and a Chinese State entity.
Clontarf was canvassed by officials, during 2018, to return to
Bolivia to study lithium projects. Encouraged by the authorities,
Clontarf updated its data-base, built a team of lithium and
Bolivian experts, and sampled priority salt-lakes (salares). Our
priority is to develop deposits with attractive lithium grade and
acceptable levels of contaminants, especially magnesium - which can
be deleterious for batteries.
The rapid growth in battery-powered electric vehicles (EVs) to
circa 4 vehicles worldwide, albeit from a small base, is generating
high demand growth for scarce minerals with which our group is
familiar - especially battery-grade lithium and cobalt - as well as
vanadium, zinc, and copper. EVs are still an enigma: electric
motors are efficient converters of power into torque, but power
must be generated and transmitted.
Electric cars offer advantages: it is far easier to build
state-of-the-art electric motors than petrol or Diesel internal
combustion engines (ICEs). Electric motors generate maximum torque
immediately - though tyres take time to grip, as with conventional
vehicles. Electric motors are far more efficient (<90%) than
Internal Combustion Engines (35% - 50%) but the electricity must
first be generated (typically 30% to 55% efficiency) and
transmitted and/or stored - which is typically only about 70%
efficient. So much energy is lost by all vehicle types.
Power storage remains the key problem: existing battery
technologies are inefficient, heavy, and expensive. But faster and
more efficient charging technologies are being developed.
For the fast growth electric vehicles and electronic devices
market, 'Lithium ion technology' is the best economically feasible
solution developed so far, though it has 'only' tripled its
performance since 1992. As the lightest metal, lithium contains
comparable energy potential to petrol. Safety requires the dilution
of lithium into lithium salts, and the addition of cobalt to render
the release and recharge of the batteries safe. Compared to
alternatives, lithium ion technologies offer a weight
advantage.
The appeal of electric vehicles is that they are emission-free
at the point of use - though the electricity must be generated and
transmitted. There is also storage capacity in EVs (including buses
& taxis). But stationary batteries share the same efficiency
loss (>30% loss) - which is aggravated if you expend energy
moving storage batteries around.
The power supply concept is that daytime higher demand
generation goes to the grid, while night-time lower demand
generation goes to public transport EVs operating as mobile
storage. Emissions are currently moderately taxed (via carbon taxes
and excise duties) and thus largely an externality - but the
opportunity emerges as taxes on emissions rise or as emissions are
disallowed - e.g. France, UK banning sales of diesel vehicles
post-2040.
Any plausible demand forecast anticipates market needs greatly
in excess of current supplies.
Lithium from salt pan deposits is in high demand. Clontarf has
long been interested in Lithium evaporates suitable for high
performance batteries. From 2008 through 2010 we operated a study
joint venture on the world's largest salt-lake deposit in Bolivia.
The technical results were encouraging but progress was frustrated
by then lack of political and legal title certainty.
Following clarification of the applicable legal regime and
fiscal terms, and the establishment of a National Lithium Company
(YLB) under the Bolivian Ministry of Energy in 2017, we have
re-established our Bolivian presence, and have submitted detailed
proposals to the authorities: subject to securing the necessary
funding, Clontarf would complete an exploration and laboratory work
programme on a select group of medium-sized salares, produce an
initial precipitate product as an Engineering, Procurement and
Construction (EPC) contractor, and then produce additional,
enhanced high performance precipitated and processed salts as a 49%
joint venture partner. This formula fits with the spirit and letter
of Bolivian legislation, and offers a sustainable route to
participate in the coming lithium ion battery boom.
In this regard, during the period under review, Clontarf
appointed Peter O'Toole as a Non-Executive Director. Mr O'Toole has
operated civil engineering and construction companies for over 30
years, specialising in the mining and government infrastructure
sectors. He is also the Honorary Consul General of Ireland in
Bolivia. He is a Civil Engineer by discipline, educated at
University of London - Queen Mary College, and GMIT Institute of
Technology, Galway, Ireland. Peter's 30 years' operational
experience in Bolivia over and encyclopaedic knowledge of Bolivian
mining, hydrocarbon, and infrastructure needs provide Clontarf with
the contacts, skills and credibility to execute a lithium
evaporates project in South America.
John Teeling
Chairman
19 September 2019
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.
S
For further information please visit http://clontarfenergy.com
or contact:
Clontarf Energy
John Teeling, Chairman
David Horgan, Director +353 (0) 1 833 2833
Nominated & Financial Adviser +44 (0) 20 7409 3494
Strand Hanson Limited
Rory Murphy
Ritchie Balmer
Georgia Langoulant
Broker +44 (0) 207 399 9400
Novum Securities Limited
Colin Rowbury
Public Relations
Blytheweigh +44 (0) 207 138 3206
Julia Tilley +44 (0) 207 138 3553
Fergus Cowan +44 (0) 207 138 3208
Teneo +353 (0) 1 661 4055
Luke Hogg +353 (0) 1 661 4055
Alan Tyrrell
Clontarf Energy plc
Financial Information (Unaudited)
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE
INCOME
Six Months Ended Year Ended
30 June 30 June 31 Dec
19 18 18
unaudited unaudited audited
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
REVENUE - - -
Cost of sales - - -
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
GROSS PROFIT - - -
Impairment of exploration and evaluation ( 112 ( 112
assets - ) )
Administrative ( 123 ( 125 ( 239
expenses ) ) )
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
( 123 ( 237 ( 351
OPERATING LOSS ) ) )
Finance costs - - -
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
LOSS BEFORE ( 123 ( 237 ( 351
TAXATION ) ) )
Income Tax - - -
TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE LOSS FOR ( 123 ( 237 ( 351
THE PERIOD ) ) )
======================================== ========================================= =========================================
LOSS PER SHARE
- basic
and diluted (0.02p) (0.04p) (0.06p)
======================================== ========================================= =========================================
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE 30 June 30 June 31 Dec
SHEET 19 18 18
unaudited unaudited audited
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
ASSETS:
NON-CURRENT
ASSETS
Intangible
assets 837 720 818
837 720 818
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
CURRENT ASSETS
Other
receivables 9 6 4
Cash and cash
equivalents 425 237 512
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
434 243 516
TOTAL ASSETS 1,271 963 1,334
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
LIABILITIES:
CURRENT
LIABILITIES
Trade payables ( 71 ) ( 81 ) ( 56 )
( 1,116 ( 1,026 ( 1,071
Other payables ) ) )
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
( 1,187 ( 1,107 ( 1,127
) ) )
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
TOTAL ( 1,187 ( 1,107 ( 1,178
LIABILITIES ) ) )
( 144
NET ASSETS 84 ) 207
======================================== ========================================= =========================================
EQUITY
Share capital 1,793 1,455 1,793
Share premium 10,900 10,773 10,900
Share based
payment
reserve 191 191 191
Retained
earnings - ( 12,800 ( 12,563 ( 12,677
(Deficit) ) ) )
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
( 144
TOTAL EQUITY 84 ) 207
======================================== ========================================= =========================================
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES
IN EQUITY
Share
based
Share Share Payment Retained Total
Capital Premium Reserves Losses Equity
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
As at 1 January ( 12,326
2018 1,455 10,773 191 ) 93
Total
comprehensive ( 237 ( 237
loss - - - ) )
------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
As at 30 June ( 12,563 ( 144
2018 1,455 10,773 191 ) )
Shares issued 338 162 - - 500
Share issue ( 35
expenses - ) - - ( 35 )
Total
comprehensive ( 114 ( 114
loss - ) )
------------------------------------- ------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
As at 31 ( 12,677
December 2018 1,793 10,900 191 ) 207
Total
comprehensive ( 123 ( 123
loss - - - ) )
----------------------------------------
As at 30 June ( 12,800
2019 1,793 10,900 191 ) 84
===================================== ===================================== ======================================== ========================================= =========================================
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED CASH Year
FLOW Six Months Ended Ended
30 June 30 June 31 Dec
19 18 18
unaudited unaudited audited
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Loss for the ( 123 ( 237 ( 351
period ) ) )
Impairment of exploration and evaluation
assets - 112 112
Exchange
movements 2 2 3
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
( 121 ( 123 ( 236
) ) )
Movements in
Working
Capital 55 57 48
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
CASH USED BY ( 188
OPERATIONS ( 66 ) ( 66 ) )
NET CASH USED IN OPERATING ( 188
ACTIVITIES ( 66 ) ( 66 ) )
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING
ACTIVITIES
Payments for
intangible ( 129 ( 196
assets ( 19 ) ) )
NET CASH USED IN INVESTING ( 129 ( 196
ACTIVITIES ( 19 ) ) )
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING
ACTIVITIES
Proceeds from
issue
of shares - - 500
Share issue
expenses - - ( 35 )
NET CASH GENERATED BY FINANCING
ACTIVITIES - - 465
---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------
NET (DECREASE)/INCREASE IN CASH AND ( 195
CASH EQUIVALENTS ( 85 ) ) 81
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning
of the period 512 434 434
Effect of exchange rate changes
on cash held ( 2 ) ( 2 ) ( 3 )
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT THE
OF THE PERIOD 425 237 512
======================================== ========================================= =========================================
Notes:
1. INFORMATION
The financial information for the six months ended 30 June 2019
and the comparative amounts for the six months ended 30 June 2018
are unaudited. The financial information above does not constitute
full statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the
Companies Act 2006.
The Interim Financial Report has been prepared in accordance
with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting as adopted by the European
Union. The accounting policies and methods of computation used in
the preparation of the Interim Financial Report are consistent with
those used in the Group 2018 Annual Report, which is available at
www.clontarfenergy.com
The interim financial statements have not been audited or
reviewed by the auditors of the Group pursuant to the Auditing
Practices board guidance on Review of Interim Financial
Information.
2. No dividend is proposed in respect of the period.
3. LOSS PER SHARE
Basic loss per share is computed by dividing the loss after
taxation for the year available to ordinary shareholders by the
weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue and ranking for
dividend during the year. Diluted earnings per share is computed by
dividing the loss after taxation for the year by the weighted
average number of ordinary shares in issue, adjusted for the effect
of all dilutive potential ordinary shares that were outstanding
during the year.
The following table sets out the computation for basic and
diluted earnings per share (EPS):
Six months Ended Year Ended
30 June 30 June 31 Dec 18
19 18
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Numerator
For basic
and diluted
EPS (123) (237) (351)
================================== ================================== ==================================
Denominator
For basic
and diluted
EPS 716,979,964 581,844,829 619,608,620
================================== ================================== ==================================
Basic EPS (0.02p) (0.04p) (0.06p)
Diluted EPS (0.02p) (0.04p) (0.06p)
================================== ================================== ==================================
Basic and diluted loss per share are the same as the effect of
the outstanding share options is anti-dilutive and is therefore
excluded.
4. INTANGIBLE ASSETS
30 June 30 June 31 Dec
Exploration and evaluation assets: 19 18 18
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Cost:
At 1 January 8,529 8,302 8,302
Additions 19 129 227
Closing
Balance 8,548 8,431 8,529
============================ ============================ ============================
Impairment:
At 1 January 7,711 7,599 7,599
Provision for
impairment - 112 112
Closing
Balance 7,711 7,711 7,711
============================ ============================ ============================
Carrying
value:
At 1 January 818 703 703
============================ ============================ ============================
At period end 837 720 818
============================ ============================ ============================
Regional 30 Jun 30 Jun 31 Dec
Analysis 19 18 18
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Peru - - -
Ghana 837 720 818
Guinea - - -
837 720 818
==================================================== ============================ ============================
Exploration and evaluation assets relates to expenditure
incurred in prospecting and exploration for oil and gas in Peru,
Ghana and Equatorial Guinea. The directors are aware that by its
nature there is an inherent uncertainty in such development
expenditure as to the value of the asset.
During the year to 31 December 2018 the Group incurred
expenditure of GBP111,682 on evaluating licences in Equatorial
Guinea. An impairment charge of GBP111,682 was recorded by the
Group in the same year (and same half year period) in which the
expenditure occurred in respect of those licences.
On 17 September 2018 the company announced that the Company's
Directors believe they have resolved the outstanding issues with
the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) regarding a
contract for the development of the Tano 2A Block. As such, all
legal proceedings have been withdrawn and the Company looks forward
to making further announcements regarding the Petroleum Agreement
in due course
The realisation of these intangible assets is dependent on the
discovery and successful development of economic oil and gas
reserves the ongoing title to the license, the ability of the
company to finance the development of the asset and on the future
profitable production or process from the asset which is affected
by the uncertainties outlined above and risks outlined below.
Should this prove unsuccessful the value included in the balance
sheet would be written off to the statement of comprehensive
income.
The group's activities are subject to a number of significant
potential risks including:
- licence obligations
- requirement for further funding
- geological and development risks
- title to assets
- political risks
5. TRADE PAYABLES
30 June 30 June 31 Dec
19 18 18
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Trade payables 47 73 40
Other accruals 24 8 16
71 81 56
============================ ============================ ============================
6. OTHER PAYABLES
30 June 30 June 31 Dec
19 18 18
GBP'000 GBP'000 GBP'000
Amounts due to directors 1,116 1,026 1,071
1,116 1,026 1,071
============================ ============================ ============================
Other payables relate to remuneration due to directors' accrued
but not paid at period end.
7. SHARE CAPITAL
Allotted,
called-up
and fully
paid:
Number Share Capital Premium
GBP'000 GBP,000
At 1
January
2018 581,844,829 1,455 10,773
Issued - - -
during the
period
-------------------------------- ------------------------------------- -----------------------------
At 30 June
2018 581,844,829 1,455 10,773
Issued
during
the
period 135,135,135 338 162
Share
issue
expenses (35)
-------------------------------- ------------------------------------- -----------------------------
At 31
December
2018 716,979,964 1,793 10,900
Issued - - -
during the
period
At 30 June
2019 716,979,964 1,793 10,900
================================ ===================================== =============================
Movements in issued share capital
On 20 September 2018 a total of 135,135,135 shares were placed
at a price of 0.37 pence per share. Proceeds were used to provide
additional working capital and fund development costs.
8. POST BALANCE SHEET EVENTS
There were no material post balance sheet events affecting the
group or company.
9. The Interim Report for the six months to 30 June 2019 was
approved by the Directors on 19 September 2019.
10. The Interim Report will be available on the Company's
website at www.clontarfenergy.com.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
IR BUGDCDSBBGCC
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 20, 2019 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Clontarf Energy (LSE:CLON)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Clontarf Energy (LSE:CLON)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024