09 October 2018
Hargreaves Services plc
(the "Hargreaves" or the "Group")
Wolf Minerals Limited
The Board of Hargreaves Services plc (AIM: HSP), a diversified group delivering services to the industrial and property sectors, notes the announcement made this morning by Wolf Minerals Limited ("Wolf") (AIM: WLFE). The Group supplies contract mining services to Wolf's tungsten mining operation at Hemerdon, Devon.
The announcement states that in connection with recent announcements in relation to Wolf's financing arrangements, Wolf has been working with its key financial stakeholders to develop longer term funding solutions required to provide it with capital to progress further production improvements. It states that Wolf's discussions with its stakeholders are ongoing and it expects to conclude those discussions this week, following which a further announcement will be made. However, should Wolf not be able to satisfactorily conclude its discussions with those stakeholders within the next two days, it will not be in a position to meet its short term working capital requirements after that point in time.
Until Wolf has concluded those discussions, the impact on Hargreaves' financial position and trading expectations cannot be fully determined. However, the Board estimates that the Group has a current net exposure of approximately £5m to Wolf comprising trade debt and WIP balances, some or all of which may prove to be irrecoverable were Wolf to be unable to continue trading. Redundancy and other associated costs may also result in a further non-recurring charge of up to £3m against Group profits in the current financial year. Additionally, if Wolf ceases to trade, this could reduce the Group's revenue in the balance of the current financial year by approximately £15m and its profit before tax by a further £1m.
Hargreaves is in close contact with Wolf and its advisors and a further announcement will be made in due course.
For further details:
Hargreaves Services plc Gordon Banham, Chief Executive Officer John Samuel, Group Finance Director
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0191 373 4485 |
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Buchanan (Financial PR) Mark Court/Sophie Wills/Henry Wilson
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0207 466 5000 |
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N+1 Singer (Nomad and Joint Corporate Broker) Sandy Fraser/Rachel Hayes
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0207 496 3000 |
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Investec (Joint Corporate Broker) 0207 597 4000 Sara Hale/Helene Comitis
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