Final Results

Golden Prospect Precious Metals Ltd 31 March 2008 GOLDEN PROSPECT PRECIOUS METALS LIMITED Preliminary Profits Announcement 16 October 2006 (date of incorporation) to 31 December 2007 The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute the Company's statutory financial statements. All the figures are based on the annual report and audited financial statements for the period from 16 October 2006 (date of incorporation) to 31 December 2007. Investment Manager's Report Introduction and Background Golden Prospect Precious Metals Limited ('the Company') has now completed its first year of operations, albeit an extended one. The Company began investing in precious metals equities following its admission onto AIM on 28 November 2006. During the period between the Company's formation on 16 October 2006 and its AIM admission, it was operationally dormant. Ambrian Capital plc, the parent organisation of the Investment Manager, supported the Company at its launch by transferring in £9.4 million of its precious metals equity portfolio in return for an equivalent holding in the Company. At the same time, the Company raised a further £3.5 million through a placing with financial institutions. For each ordinary share, investors also received one warrant in the Company. The placing price of each ordinary share and warrant was 100 pence. Performance Summary Following set-up and issue costs of £490,824, the Net Asset Value ('NAV') of the Company immediately after its AIM admission was 96.20 pence per share. By 31 December 2007, the NAV had increased to 111.22 pence per share, representing an increase of 11.2% on the issue price of 100 pence per share and a gain of 15.6% on the opening NAV of 96.20 pence per share. During the period under review, the Company made a profit before tax of £1,946,223 on income of £2,705,319. Period to 31 December 2007 The Company made a good start during the first half of 2007 with its NAV increasing to 114.84 pence per share by 30 June 2007. During most of this time, the Company's shares traded at a premium to its NAV and were always comfortably above their November 2006 issue price of 100 pence. The premium to NAV reflected the high level of interest in the Company by key investors and interest in the commodity sector in general. The US sub-prime mortgage crisis reversed this situation from August 2007 onwards. The resulting blind sell-off particularly hit the small and medium capitalised companies as well as many mining and commodity related equities with little regard for the underlying fundamentals of each business. The result was that the Company's NAV declined to 93.61 pence per share by 31 August 2007, its lowest published level during 2007. From late August to the end of 2007, the bullion prices of gold, silver and platinum each increased by over 20%. The drivers behind this included the progressive switch by investors into safe-haven investments as a result of the credit crisis and fears over the scale of its potential fall-out, inflation worries, rising oil prices, political unease (particularly in the Middle East) as well as a healthy demand for the metals for use in jewellery and industrial fabrication applications. The higher bullion prices in turn fed through into higher equity prices in the precious metals sector, particularly for the larger companies in production. The Company's NAV benefited from this during September and October. Unfortunately, renewed sub-prime and credit crisis fears in December caused a further deterioration in stock market conditions and again affected the smaller capitalised holdings in the Company's portfolio. These same conditions also caused the Company's share price to decline during December to a mid-market share price of 96.5 pence. Portfolio and Top Ten Holdings The Company's portfolio contains a diverse range of holdings from large international corporations in production to small companies which are actively developing defined mining projects through to production. At 31 December 2007, the Company held investments in 47 companies and had 46% of its gross assets invested in companies with a market capitalisation greater than £250 million. At 31 December 2007, the top ten holdings were: Company Value (£) % Gross Assets Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation* 2,298,865 13.57% Lihir Gold Limited 1,061,577 6.27% Resolute Mining Limited 1,037,331 6.12% Jubilee Platinum PLC 985,500 5.82% Mano River Resources Inc 978,535 5.78% Great Panther Resources Limited 808,043 4.77% Gold Resource Corporation 655,581 3.87% Centamin Egypt Limited 585,000 3.45% Pan African Resources PLC 540,000 3.19% Mintails Limited 533,729 3.15% 9,484,161 55.99% Note: The Company was originally a shareholder in both Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation* and Bolnisi Gold NL. Following the former's acquisition of the latter for shares in December 2007, GPPM owned 932,000 shares in Coeur d'Alene which at 31 December had the value of £2,298,865. The Company has since sold 332,000 Coeur d'Alene shares, reducing its holding to 600,000 shares. At 31 December 2007, the Company's portfolio by sector (allocating each investment entirely to the company's primary resource, except as noted below) was: Investment % of Portfolio Gold 63% Silver 17% Platinum and Palladium 7% Diamonds 4% Uranium 8% Cash 1% 100% Note: The allocation for Coeur d'Alene Mines Corporation, Mano River Resources Inc and Mintails Limited was divided between each company's two main resources. Gearing The Company entered into a rolling £3.0 million loan agreement with Allied Irish Banks plc on 20 March 2007 and subsequently drew down £2.4 million of this facility. On 20 March 2008 the Company renewed this agreement subject to revised terms. The funds drawn down remains at £2.4 million. Period since 31 December 2007 and outlook The price of gold at 31 December 2007 was US$834 per ounce having risen steadily throughout the proceeding year. Since then it increased further to over US$1,000 per ounce in the middle of March before declining back to around US$940 per ounce at the time of writing. This takes it past the previous all time high of US$850 per ounce which occurred in January 1980 and, with it, the market into a new territory. The prices of other precious metals have also shown similar strength and volatility during this time. For example, that of platinum rose from US$1,537 per ounce to over US$2,200 per ounce before it fell back to its current level of around US$2,000 per ounce. The price of silver tells a similar story. It increased from US$14.76 per ounce and briefly eclipsed US21.00 per ounce before it too declined to its current level of around US$18.20 per ounce. These volatile movements in bullion prices are feeding through into the Company's NAV and they make it difficult to be clear about the short term outlook. However, there are four key positive trends which the Investment Manager believes will work to the Company's advantage in the medium term: • Investors are increasingly seeking exposure to gold and gold based equities for all the classic reasons (weak dollar, instability, etc - as previously outlined). • The prices of precious metals based equities typically lag that of the bullion until an established trend has emerged. This is now coming through despite the turmoil in the market during the last few months. While the producers are generally experiencing higher costs (labour, equipment, materials and fuel), the traditional relationship of higher precious metals prices positively impacting on bottom line profits, and hence share-price, still holds true. • An increase in corporate activity as the larger producers seek to obtain the in-ground resources they require to secure their future production. • The intervention by the US and some European Central Banks to provide market liquidity will help to improve investor confidence and with it increase equity share prices. The Board of Directors ('the Board') and Investment Manager maintain their belief that the strong precious metals prices will continue for the foreseeable future and that this will feed through in a positive way into the Company's NAV. The Directors and Investment Manager would like to take the opportunity at the end of the Company's first complete year of operations to thank investors for their support. We continue to believe that the Company's portfolio is well positioned and that events will show this to be the case. Ambrian Asset Management Limited 28 March 2008 The Preliminary Profits Announcement was approved by the Board of Directors on 28 March 2008. Contact at Ambrian Asset Management Limited: Robert Rasbach Tel: +44 (0)20 7634 4882 Fax: +44 (0)20 7634 4881 robert.rasbach@ambrian.com Income Statement For the period from 16 October 2006 (date of incorporation) to 31 December 2007 Revenue Capital Total £ £ £ Income Dividend income from equity securities designated at fair value through profit or loss 34,328 - 34,328 Interest income for financial assets that are not at fair value through profit or loss: Cash and cash equivalents 54,543 - 54,543 88,871 - 88,871 Net gains on financial assets at fair value through profit or loss - 2,614,792 2,614,792 Gains on foreign exchange - 1,656 1,656 Total income 88,871 2,616,448 2,705,319 Expenses Performance fees (92,400) - (92,400) Investment Management fees (220,258) - (220,258) Administration fees (64,933) - (64,933) Custodian fees (12,923) - (12,923) Directors' fees (65,220) - (65,220) Audit fees (10,200) - (10,200) Transaction costs (43,396) - (43,396) Brokerage fees (49,068) - (49,068) Directors insurance costs (12,000) - (12,000) Registrar's fees (10,000) - (10,000) Other expenses (45,234) - (45,234) Total operating expenses (625,632) - (625,632) (Loss)/profit before finance costs and tax (536,761) 2,616,448 2,079,687 Finance costs Interest expense for financial liabilities that are not at fair value through profit or loss: Loan payable (128,297) - (128,297) Loan arrangement and commitment fees (5,167) - (5,167) Total (loss)/profit for the period before tax (670,225) 2,616,448 1,946,223 Withholding tax (4,738) - (4,738) (Loss)/profit for the period (£674,963) £2,616,448 £1,941,485 Basic (loss)/earnings per Ordinary Share (pence) (5.22p) 20.24p 15.02p Diluted earnings per Ordinary Share (pence) 7.51p The 'Total' column of this statement represents the Company's Income Statement, prepared in accordance with IFRS. The supplementary 'Revenue' and 'Capital' columns are both prepared for information purposes only. All the items in the above statement derive from continuing operations. Statement of Changes in Equity For the period from 16 October 2006 date of incorporation) to 31 December 2007 Realised Unrealised Other Share Share Capital Capital Revenue Distributable Capital Premium Reserve Reserve Reserve Reserve Total £ £ £ £ £ £ £ Balance as at 16 October 2006 - - - - - - - Gain on Securities designated at fair value through profit or loss - - 1,455,345 1,159,447 - 2,614,792 Gain/(loss) on foreign exchange - - 2,677 (1,021) - - 1,656 Loss for the period - - - - (674,963) - (674,963) Total recognised income and expense for the period - - 1,458,022 1,158,426 (674,963) - 1,941,485 Issue of Ordinary Shares 12,927 12,913,779 - - - - 12,926,706 Issue costs relating to the issue of Ordinary Shares - (490,824) - - - - (490,824) Transfer to Other Distributable Reserve - (12,422,955) - - - 12,422,955 - Balance as at 31 December 2007 £12,927 £- £1,458,022 £1,158,426 (£674,963) £12,422,955 £14,377,367 Balance Sheet As at 31 December 2007 £ £ Current Assets Financial assets at fair value through profit or loss 16,748,178 Cash and cash equivalents 188,464 Receivables 3,254 191,718 Current Liabilities Payables and accruals (162,529) Loan payable (2,400,000) (2,562,529) Net Current Liabilities (2,370,811) Total Assets less Current Liabilities 14,377,367 Equity Ordinary Share 12,927 Capital Share Premium - Revenue Reserve (674,963) Other Distributable 12,422,955 Reserve Other Reserves 2,616,448 Total Equity 14,377,367 Number of Ordinary Shares in issue 12,926,706 Net Assets Value per Ordinary Share (pence) 111.22 p Cash Flow Statement For the period from 16 October 2006 (date of incorporation) to 31 December 2007 £ Cash flows from operating activities Profit for the period 1,941,485 Adjustment for: Gains on financial assets at fair value through profit or loss (2,614,792) Gain on foreign exchange (1,656) Withholding tax 4,738 Operating cash flows before movements in working capital (670,225) Increase in receivables (3,254) Increase in payables and accruals 162,529 Purchase of financial assets at fair (19,909,872) value Sale of financial assets at fair value 5,776,486 Withholding tax (4,738) Net cash used in operating activities (14,649,074) Cash flows from financing activities Proceeds from issue of Ordinary Shares 12,926,706 Issue costs relating to issue of Ordinary Shares (490,824) Loan advanced 2,400,000 Net cash generated from financing activities 14,835,882 Net increase in cash and cash equivalents 186,808 Net cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period - Effect of foreign exchange rate changes 1,656 Cash and cash equivalents at end of period £188,464 It is expected that the full Annual Report and Financial Statements of the Company will be mailed to shareholders shortly and a copy will be available on the Company's website www.gppm.co.uk. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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