13 Year Tax Exemption for Cashew Project Confirmed

RNS Number : 3813U

Dekeloil Public Limited

12 July 2018

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014.  Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

DekelOil Public Limited / Index: AIM / Epic: DKL / Sector: Food Producers

12 July 2018

DekelOil Public Limited ("DekelOil" or the "Company")

13 Year Tax Exemption for Cashew Processing Project Confirmed

DekelOil Public Limited, the West African focused agricultural company, is pleased to announce that it has received confirmation from the Government of Côte d'Ivoire that future profits generated at the planned 10,000tpa raw cashew nut ("RCN") processing project at Tiebissou will be fully exempt from corporation tax for a period of 13 years.  This follows a successful application under the Investment Incentives Code, which is administered by government agency CEPICI.  Operations at Tiebissou are targeted to commence in Q3 2019 at an initial rate of 10,000tpa.   As announced on 26 June 2018, DekelOil has secured an option to acquire a 58% majority interest in Capro CI SA, which is developing the RCN processing project at Tiebissou.

Under the terms of the Investment Incentives Code, profits generated at Tiebissou will be fully exempt from corporation tax for a period of 13 years.  In Year 14, profits will be taxed at a rate equivalent to 50% of the prevailing rate of tax, rising to 75% in Year 15.  Profits thereafter will be taxed at the full prevailing corporation tax rate, currently 25%. 

DekelOil Executive Director Lincoln Moore said, "The tax exemption greatly enhances the already highly attractive economics of processing cashews in Côte d'Ivoire.  It also demonstrates government support for the in-country cashew processing project which is being developed at Tiebissou.  Côte d'Ivoire is the world's largest producer of cashews, but only 7% of its output is processed in-country.  By adopting the collaborative model we successfully deployed at our producing palm oil project in Ayenouan, the 10,000tpa plant at Tiebissou, which can be expanded to 30,000 tpa, will help plug this significant shortfall in domestic capacity and ensure more value-add activity is carried out in Côte d'Ivoire.  I look forward to providing further updates, as we work with Capro to deliver the plant on time and on budget, and in the process transform DekelOil into a highly profitable, multi-commodity agricultural company."

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For further information please visit the Company's website or contact:

DekelOil Public Limited Youval Rasin Shai Kol Lincoln Moore	[phone]
Cantor Fitzgerald Europe (Joint Broker) David Foreman Richard Salmond	[phone]
VSA Capital (Joint Broker) Andrew Monk (Corporate Broking) Andrew Raca (Corporate Finance)	[phone]
Optiva Securities Limited (Joint Broker) Christian Dennis Jeremy King	[phone]
St Brides Partners Ltd (Investor Relations) Megan Dennison Frank Buhagiar	[phone]

Further information

Tiebissou is being developed by Pearlside Holdings Ltd ("Pearlside") through its wholly owned subsidiary Capro CI SA ('Capro').  As announced on 26 June 2018, DekelOil has secured an option to acquire 58.5% of the existing issued share capital of Pearlside.  Subject to DekelOil electing to exercise its option, Tiebissou will become DekelOil's third project in Côte d'Ivoire alongside Ayenouan, which produced 38,736 tonnes of Crude Palm Oil in 2017; and Guitry, a second 'seed to oil' palm oil project which is currently under development. 

 

END

 

 

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