Interim Results
Blue Star Capital plc
29 June 2007
Blue Star Capital plc
29 June 2007
BLUE STAR CAPITAL PLC
('Blue Star' or 'the Company')
Interim results for the period ended 31st March 2007
Blue Star Capital plc (AIM: BLU), the Company created to provide seed capital
for early stage companies, announces its interim results for the period ended
31st March 2007.
Highlights
Blue Star has built a diverse investment portfolio which is beginning to realise
value
Realisations have lead to a substantial reduction in post tax losses to £110,171
compared with a post-tax loss of £238,768 for the corresponding six months in
2006
Balance sheet remains strong with free net cash of £1 million as at 31 March
2007
Nigel Robertson, Blue Star's Chairman, said:
'Our strategy of investing in companies with the potential to deliver
substantial capital growth is beginning to bear fruit. Our investments are
delivering on their business strategy and this has resulted in a satisfactory
reduction in our post-taxes losses. We believe that your Company is well placed
and I look forward to reporting progress to you over the next twelve months.'
For further information:
Blue Star Capital plc
Nigel Robertson, Chairman
Haresh Kanabar CEO Tel: 020 7297 0010
Teather & Greenwood
Mark Dickenson Tel: 020 7426 9000
Holborn Public Relations Limited
David Bick/ Mark Longson Tel: 020 7929 5599
Blue Star Capital Plc
Chairman's statement
I can report that, for the six months ended 31March 2007, we have substantially
reduced our post-tax loss to £110,171 compared with the post-tax loss of
£238,768 incurred in the corresponding six month period last year. The loss per
share has also been significantly reduced, to 0.10p in the period under review
compared with a loss per share of 0.23p in the six month period last year.
The reduction in losses is a result of the company beginning to realise some of
the value of its investment portfolio in the period the company made gains on
investments of £111,284. We expect to realise further gains in the second half
of the year. Our balance sheet remains strong with net cash at the balance sheet
date of 31 March 2007 of £1.0 million. Blue Star has built a diverse range of
investment portfolio investing in companies that have good growth opportunities
an update of the company's portfolio of key investments is set out below.
Zenergy PLC
Zenergy PLC (AIM : ZEN) is a global specialist manufacturer and developer of
commercial applications for superconductive materials. Comprising three
operating subsidiaries located in Germany (Trithor), USA (SC Power Systems) and
Australia (Australian Superconductors), Zenergy is developing a number of energy
efficient applications to be adopted in renewable energy power generation,
energy efficient applications to be adopted in renewable energy power
generation, energy distribution and large scale, energy intensive industrial
processes.
In April 2007 Zenergy raised £6 million from institutional investors at £1.40
per share. The proceeds of this placing will be used for working capital and the
acceleration of its ongoing research and development activities with a
particular emphasis on the groundbreaking work that the company is doing to
bring to market a range of highly efficient, light-weight and compact wind
generators for the offshore wind market. The Company announced in May 2007 that
it had completed the construction and successful testing of its HTS induction
heater ahead of schedule and established energy efficiency levels of 90%
compared to conventional induction heaters that operate at between 35% and 45%
efficiency levels. The company will now be able to market its induction heaters
in a market which they estimate to be £2 billion per annum.
The collaboration with Coverteam is working well and in June the company
announced that its HTS electromagnetic coils have passed through extensive
testing and technical evaluation and have been qualified for use in commercial
wind power generators. The tests established electrical performance, electrical
capacity and electrical efficiency levels exceeding management expectations.
Zenergy has received a further commercial order worth in excess of 600,000 Euros
from Coverteam.
Gasol PLC
Gasol PLC (AIM : GAS) is an AIM-listed company, established to capitalise on
significant acquisition and investment openings in the oil and gas sectors. A
core focus of its business is the exploitation of liquefied natural gas (LNG)
opportunities in the Gulf of Guinea Region of West Africa. LNG is likely to
remain the fastest growing hydrocarbon sub-segment beyond 2015 and Gasol is
strategically positioned to profit from this. LNG is emerging as the swing gas
supplier in an increasing global market, particularly given the depleting
indigenous European and US gas supplies and concerns over the security of
European gas supplies.
On 1 September 2006, the company announced the acquisition of a 20 per cent.
Shareholding in African LNG Holdings Ltd ('African LNG'), a business whose
strategic intention is to become the premier independent LNG company in the Gulf
of Guinea. Gasol also entered into a Share Option Agreement with African LNG
pursuant to which Gasol was granted the option to acquire the remaining 80%
equity at a discount providing Gasol with the opportunity to receive
considerable additional value through the acquisition.
African LNG is a subsidiary of African Gas Development Corporation ('Afgas'),
which has an exclusive joint venture with Sonagas, the national gas company of
the Republic of Equatorial Guinea that has exclusive responsibility for the
State's interest in all existing and future gas related projects in the country.
African LNG is currently focussing its development strategy on LNG projects. To
facilitate the financing of these projects, it is also in discussions with a
number of major European utilities in respect of downstream partnerships and
long term sales arrangements.
Last year, Gasol and African LNG entered into a strategic alliance with Afren
plc (AIM: AFR), an African Exploration and Production company with assets in
West Africa. Afren is focused exclusively on upstream oil and gas opportunities
in Africa and is utilising its well connected board and management to offer
stranded gas supplies on a first right of refusal basis to Gasol and African
LNG.
Black Raven PLC
Black Raven PLC (AIM : BRP) is an AIM listed company focussed on opportunities
in the property sector in Portugal. Its target market is high end residential
housing market, as well as commercial development opportunities with a focus on
those assets where full planning approval is in place and a completion timeframe
of 1 to 3 years. The company has acquired five residential sites in the Lisbon
area, thus expanding the Company's portfolio of freehold and other investments.
In January 2007 Black Raven set up a Portuguese Closed Ended Real Estate
Investment Fund called White Raven Capital Partners. The reasons for forming
White Raven are to facilitate the future raising of funds, creating a more tax
efficient structure and providing an improved base for the realisation of its
assets. The valuation of the property assets vended was done by independent
valuers and this generated a profit of approximately 3 million Euros for Black
Raven.
Further equity was raised in June 2007 by issuing 30,000,000 new ordinary shares
of 1p each at a price of 6.5p (a significant premium to then prevailing market
price) a share giving an aggregate value of the new shares of £1.95 million.
These shares have been issued in lieu of consideration due and payable to
Validius Investments SA as part of the profit sharing agreement. The company's
balance sheet has been strengthened over the last year.
India Outsourcing Services PLC
India Outsourcing Services PLC (AIM : IOS) is an AIM listed company whose
strategy is to seek acquisition opportunities in the Business Process
Outsourcing sector have been looking at a number of potential transactions in
India and elsewhere. They have found that valuations are stretched in India and
vendors have very high expectations hence they are now concentrating on other
geographies. IOS reported in June that they are carrying out due diligence on
two potential transactions and expect to announce further details in respect of
one of these in the next few weeks. As at 31 March 2007 IOS had net cash of
£2.62 Million which is equivalent to 27.9 pence per share which represents a
very significant to the Company's market share price.
Eseekers LTD (izimi.com)
Eseekers is a private company which launched the izimi.com portal in March 2007.
Izimi's desktop application allows users to serve an unlimited number of files
to the internet directly from their own personal computer with just a simple
URL. The free izimi internet self-publishing application is the first of its
kind to place no restrictions on file type, size or quality that users can share
without the need for recipients of the URL to register or download any client
application. Files can be accessed directly with just a web browser by clicking
a link. The Internet is a rapidly changing space and izimi is the next logical
step in user-generated content, social media and social networking phenomenon
taking place now by enabling users to easily share all types of content with
anyone with a web browser. Using izimi's simple service people are now able to
completely control their own media without relying on external servers. Izimi is
right on the curve of this fundamental change of truly empowering users to self
publish and self mange their own content.
Venteco PLC
Venteco PLC (AIM : VTO) is an AIM listed company which specialises in non-toxic
pest control solutions which uses patented cryonite technology to kill all life
stages of insects in a poison-free and environmentally friendly manner. The
technology involves the use of carbon dioxide gas which is sprayed as a snow
produced by a special nozzle thereby achieving rapid cooling. The premises do
not need to be evacuated and production of foodstuffs can continue during
sanitations, thereby making the method cost effective as well as environmentally
friendly. Cryonite is in the early stages of commercialisation but the units
have been distributed in 20 countries across four continents.
CTS technologies AG, the developer of patented cryonite technology, was acquired
via a reverse acquisition by Venteco in August 2006. CTS's business model varies
between markets but is founded on securing marketing and distribution agreements
with pest control operators (PCOs). In Europe, for example, this is done through
a distribution agreement with Linde, the industrial gases group, which leases
Cryonite units to PCOs and end customers, such as food industries and hotels.
Terminix, the largest pest control company in the world alongside Orkin,
reaffirmed its commitment to Cryonite, with its decision to market the product
in the US market. Initially, Terminix chose to deploy 50 Cryonite units across
its branch offices in the US from the beginning of 2007. Terminix has devoted
significant resources towards a successful launch. In parallel, CTS continues
its efforts to extend Cryonite's deployment into other major US pest control
companies.
Linde, which acts as the distribution partner for CTS Technologies, a subsidiary
of Venteco, has experienced strong demand for Cryonite, out its entire existing
inventory. Linde recently placed an order for 150 units which compares to total
units shipped in 2006 of 152.
Outlook
We have a built up a diverse range of portfolio investments and have started to
realise some of our investments a trend which we expect to continue in the
second half. With our strong cash position and good portfolio we look forward to
the future with confidence.
Nigel Robertson
Chairman
Blue Star Capital Plc
Profit and Loss Account for the period ended 31 March 2007
6 months ended 6 months ended Year ended 30
31 March 2007 31 March 2006 September 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£ £ £
Turnover - - -
Impairment to the value of fixed - - (387,200)
asset investments
Gains on investments 111,284 1,156 10,512
Administrative expenses (247,331) (310,333) (587,455)
Operating loss (136,047) (309,177) (964,143)
Net interest receivable 25,876 70,409 112,427
Loss on ordinary activities (110,171) (238,768) (851,716)
before taxation
Tax on loss on ordinary - - -
activities
Loss on ordinary activities (110,171) (238,768) (851,716)
after taxation
Loss per share - basic and (0.10p) (0.23p) (0.81p)
diluted
All amounts relate to continuing activities.
All recognised gains and losses for the period have been included in the profit
and loss account.
Blue Star Capital Plc
Balance Sheet at 31 March 2007
6 months ended 6 months ended Year ended 30
31 March 2007 31 March 2006 September 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£ £ £
Fixed assets
Tangible assets 2,581 9,315 7,605
Investments 2,977,742 2,203,978 3,038,731
2,980,323 2,213,293 3,046,336
Current assets
Debtors 132,909 25,429 53,148
Cash at bank and in hand 1,001,239 2,627,701 1,122,166
1,134,148 2,653,130 1,175,314
Creditors falling due within (131,129) (159,962) (128,137)
one year
Net current assets 1,003,019 2,493,168 1,047,177
Total assets less current 3,983,342 4,706,461 4,093,513
liabilities
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 105,500 105,500 105,500
Share premium account 5,032,525 5,032,525 5,032,525
Profit and loss account (1,154,683) (431,564) (1,044,512)
Shareholders funds - equity 3,983,342 4,706,461 4,093,513
Blue Star Capital Plc
Cash flow statement for the period ended 31 March 2007
6 months ended 6 months ended Year ended 30
31 March 2007 31 March 2006 September 2006
(unaudited) (unaudited) (audited)
£ £ £
Net cash outflow from (319,075) (303,732) (635,662)
operating activities
Returns on investments and
servicing of finance
Interest received 25,876 70,460 112,488
Interest paid - (51) (61)
Net cash inflow from returns 25,876 70,409 112,427
on investments and servicing
of finance
Financial investments and
capital expenditure
Payments to acquire tangible - (2,375) (5,402)
fixed assets
Payments to acquire (150,000) (815,081) (2,046,256)
investments
Proceeds from sale of 322,272 28,416 46,994
investments
Net cash outflow from 172,272 (789,040) (2,004,664)
financial investments and
capital expenditure
Net cash outflow (120,927) (1,022,363) (2,527,899)
(Decrease) increase in net (120,927) (1,022,363) (2,527,889)
cash in the period
Blue Star Capital Plc
Notes to the Interim Report
1. Basis of preparation
The interim accounts for the six months ended 31 March 2007 are unaudited and do
not constitute statutory accounts in accordance with section 240 of the
Companies Act 1985.
The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with currently
applicable Accounting Standards in the United Kingdom, which have been applied
consistently, and under the historical cost convention.
Accounting policies consistent with those applied in the financial statements
for the period ended 30 September 2006 have been used in preparing the unaudited
interim financial statements for the 6 months ended March 2007.
2. Taxation
There is no tax charge for the period due to the loss arising.
3. Dividends
The Directors are not declaring a dividend for the six months ended 31 March
2007.
4. Loss per ordinary share
The calculation of basic and diluted loss per share of 0.10 (2006 0.23) pence is
based on the loss for the period of £110,171 (2006 £238,768) and on 105,500,000
(2006 105,500,000) ordinary shares, being the weighted average number of
ordinary shares in issue during the period ended 31 March 2007.
5. Copies of interim results
Copies of the interim results are available from the Company's office, 22 Soho
Square, London W1D 4NS.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
QOBKDAAB