TUNG Tungsten Corporation Plc

TIDMTUNG

RNS Number : 0855D

Tungsten Corporation PLC

25 March 2014

TUNGSTEN CORPORATION PLC

("Tungsten" or collectively the "Tungsten Group")

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART, IN, INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN NOR ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OF SUCH JURISDICTION

For Immediate Release 25th March, 2014

MARKET UPDATE

Delivering against the Strategic Plan

Tungsten Corporation plc (LSE:TUNG) is pleased to give an update to the market. Results for the full year to 30th April, 2014 will be announced in July.

After extensive work, the formal change of control request to consummate the acquisition of FIBI Bank (UK) Plc (the "Bank") was submitted yesterday to UK's Prudential Regulation Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority. The Board is therefore of the view that PRA approval for the change of control will be forthcoming within the statutory 60 business day period; and the Board is hopeful of having the required approval by the end of May 2014.

An experienced and powerful Bank board has been provisionally elected : Edi Truell chairs a board led by the CEO Phil Ashdown, Steven Clowes (CFO), Jonathan Mackay (CRO) and independent non-executives Robert Eddowes, Richard Olliver, Chris Coles and Tim Hall. In addition, Gordon Payne has joined Tungsten from Sumitomo to help lead the work on multinational Supply Chain Finance ("SCF") provision. As well as giving Tungsten Finance very significant financial firepower, our SCF offers are being carefully constructed to avoid the regulatory pitfalls ignored by many would-be competing SCF solution providers; and to enduring best practice standards. Under Chris Lowrie's stewardship, the necessary systems to connect our network to the Bank are now fully tested and are ready to be deployed as soon as the Bank is up and running.

Tungsten Corporation has made strong progress overall in integrating its financing and analytics capabilities into the e-invoicing network; and in organising the combined Tungsten group to be capable of large-scale growth.

We have spent the first five months as a public company clarifying our offer: Digital Invoicing is at the core of our Network. Momentum is strong, with the Company continuing to have a good pipeline of new potential clients and contracts. However, we have adopted a more conservative accounting policy, spreading revenues over the life of the contract. While this measure will modestly constrain the reported network revenues compared to previous years, the value and volume of invoices processed in the current financial year is broadly in line with our original expectations. The emphasis on purely digital invoicing means that Tungsten can be more certain of tax, regulatory and buyer compliance, in contrast to other invoice processing networks. Our compliance culture is a strong differentiator that is becoming more appreciated in a world of cyber crime. Our focus on a purely digital approach means that we shall be shutting down the legacy inter-operability arrangements that benefit our competitors more than they benefit our customers and which could introduce non-compliant invoices into the network.

Tungsten is now fully compliant in 44 countries, having successfully launched in Turkey and Brazil in 2014. As Markus Homburg drives our rollout still further into major economies, so we will scale volumes rapidly, with our global multinational buyers inviting thousands more active suppliers to join the Tungsten Network. As an example, our long established customer GSK is now asking its Turkish suppliers to trade via the Tungsten Network, encouraged by Governmental requirements.

Edmund Truell, Group CEO of Tungsten Corporation plc, commented, "The opportunity to create a disruptive global player is even greater than I first thought. We can realistically aim to create the leading global digital invoicing network, serving the world's largest corporates and governments. Now that we are on the final straight to getting the Bank fully compliant and approved, Tungsten will start to offer suppliers access to trade and working finance on a transparent and simple to execute basis. At every step we are doing our utmost to ensure a compliant and secure Network, working also with highly respected partners across the world. Tungsten Corporation thus aims to transform the global supply chain."

LONDON, 25th March, 2014

Enquiries:

Tungsten Corporation plc

Edmund Truell, Chief Executive Officer +44 20 3435 5680

Equus Group (Communications)

Piers Hooper / Sam Barton +44 20 7223 1100

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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