Final Results

Aram Resources PLC 10 May 2000 ARAM RESOURCES ANNOUNCES A YEAR OF GROWTH Aram Resources plc ('Aram') the AIM listed wharfing, manufacturing concrete and coated macadams and quarrying company announces preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 1999. Key Points: * Turnover increased to £4.72 million (£3.2 million) * Earnings per share 5.70 (6.01p) * Dividend maintained at 2p per ordinary share * Seven wharves secured and two coating plants commissioned * £2 million capital programme of larger jetty at West of England Quarry completed * Prospectus strategy of 1997 moving ahead rapidly. Commenting on the Results, Giles Nixon, Chairman, said: 'The development of Aram's quarry units and associated satellite plants is a long term business and it is with pleasure that I can report we have brought to realisation a number of our planned objectives and developments earlier than forecast in our prospectus of 1997. Our current focus is directed at finalising our new sites for production and thus into generating profits which will lead to enhanced returns for our shareholders. We will continue to actively examine other trading opportunities which occur, especially where our wharves and ship movements can be involved'. Chairman's Statement Once again I am pleased to report a year of progress and achievement for the period ending December 1999. Operating profits for this period were £723,000 (1998: £667,000) on sales of £4,722,000 (1998: 3,226,000) with a profit before taxation of £365,000 (1998: £363,000). The figures for this year carry the necessary and anticipated rise in administrative costs in the second half of 1999. The increases relate to the cost of establishing the Company at our wharf locations, and in the provision of management and staff at these locations in order to bring them into production and profit as they are opened during the rest of this year and next. The Board is recommending a final dividend of 1p per share which, if approved, will be paid on 23 June 2000 to registered shareholders at the close of business on 26 May 2000. The proposed dividend together with the interim dividend of 1p brings the total dividend in respect of the year to 2p per share, the same as for 1998. Since the Interim Statement for 1999, we have completed the £2m expansion programme to extend the wharf at our West of England Quarry, and we now have a wharf which can receive vessels up to 4,500 tonne capacity. This transforms the quarry's sea borne operating ability and is a major step forward for the Company. Progress has also been made at our Runcorn satellite location where we have commissioned a new asphalt coating plant and we continue to work on the other sites which were secured before the end of last year. At Carnsew quarry in Cornwall, we have submitted a planning application together with a full environmental survey for development of a landfill operation for domestic waste the southern half of the first part of the quarry. This new business will not interfere with the ongoing quarrying and processing of granite at Carnsew. In the last Interim Report I mentioned securing an environmentally sustainable aggregate source from steelworks in Belgium and France. This gives Aram significant advantages at our satellite plants on the South Coast of England. The materials are exempt from aggregate tax imposed in the last Budget Statement which comes into force on April 20 next year. At Carnsew, currently our most productive quarry, an excellent year was achieved with record results once again. This well established freehold quarry has in excess of 50 years of recoverable reserves with planning consent and it is confidently expected to see a further increase in its output as additional markets are still available to it. West of England Quarry will install a crushing and screening plants during the course of this year, and the first cargoes will be shipped by sea in June of this year. These materials will be delivered to our own wharves for value-added processing. West of England Quarry owns freehold land and consented recoverable reserves in excess of 50 years at current output levels. In the resolution section of this Annual Report there is a reference to the sale and leaseback arrangement of our Plymouth wharf. This sale has provided both profit and additional working financial resources for our expanding investment programme. People It has been an extremely active year for all concerned and I would like to thank all our staff for their dedicated efforts in ensuring our strategies are successful. During the past months Clive Scott, who joined Aram as Financial Controller in 1998 and who became a director in June 1999, received an attractive offer from another employer and left the company in December. We wish him well. I am pleased to report that in March we recruited Ray Smart, formerly with our auditors, Grant Thornton, as financial controller. Ray has wide commercial experience and we are delighted to welcome him to Aram. During the year we have strengthened the management team at all levels and this, together with our systems which are being expanded and developed, will enable us to meet the trading demands of our wider geographical location and markets more efficiently. I am also pleased to report that my fellow non-executive directors, Ted Dilley and Bob Carlton-Porter, are currently engaged in ensuring that appropriate funding is available for our future development plans to enable our defined strategy to be fully achieved. Currently our loans and hire purchase contracts represent 26.7 per cent. of our total assets. Outlook Trading for the first part of 2000 has shown new highs in the demand for our quarry materials and trading to date is standing at some 18.4 per cent. higher than the same period for 1999. The development of Aram's quarry units and associated satellite plants is a long term business and it is with some pleasure that I can report we have brought to realisation a number of our planned objectives and developments earlier than forecast in our Prospectus of 1997. Our current focus is directed at finalising our new sites for production and thus into generating the profits which will lead to enhanced returns to shareholders. We will continue to actively examine other trading opportunities which occur, especially where our wharves and ship movements can be involved. Giles Nixon Chairman CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT For the year ended 31 December 1999 1999 1998 £ £ Turnover 4,722,255 3,225,607 Cost of sales (3,219,654) (2,038,253) --------- --------- Gross profit 1,502,601 1,187,354 Administrative expenses (779,123) (520,588) --------- --------- Operating profit 723,478 666,766 Net interest (358,173) (303,342) --------- --------- Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 365,305 363,424 Tax on profit on ordinary activities - - --------- --------- Profit for the financial year 365,305 363,424 Dividends (170,500) (157,000) --------- --------- Profit transferred to reserves 194,805 206,424 --------- --------- Basic earnings per share 5.70p 6.01p Diluted earnings per share 5.64p 6.01p ========= ========= CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET at 31 December 1999 1999 1998 £ £ Fixed assets Negative goodwill (1,805,534) - Tangible assets 26,073,803 19,591,491 ---------- ---------- 24,268,269 19,591,491 Current assets Stocks 1,754,327 1,732,466 Debtors 1,010,339 463,227 Cash at bank and in hand 3,526 408,598 ---------- ---------- 2,768,192 2,604,291 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (3,382,362) (2,537,141) ---------- ---------- Net current (liabilities)/assets (614,170) 67,150 ---------- ---------- Total assets less current liabilities 23,654,099 19,658,641 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year (5,392,860) (3,519,142) Provisions for liabilities and charges Deferred income (751,419) - ---------- ---------- 17,509,820 16,139,499 ========== ========== Capital and reserves Called up share capital 968,000 963,500 Share premium account 552,228 31,212 Revaluation reserve 15,316,348 14,666,348 Profit and loss account 673,244 478,439 ---------- ---------- 17,509,820 16,139,499 ========== ========== Shareholders' funds Equity shareholders funds 16,597,820 15,227,499 Non-equity shareholders funds: - Convertible preference shares 900,000 900,000 - Deferred shares 12,000 12,000 ---------- ---------- 17,509,820 16,139,499 ========== ========== Notes: 1. Earnings per share The figures for earnings per share are calculated on earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders of £311,305 (1998: £309,424). The basic earnings per share calculation is based on a weighted average number of ordinary shares of 1p each in issue during the year of 5,465,616 (1998: 5,150,000). 2. The results contained in this preliminary statement do not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 240 of the Companies Act 1985, but have been extracted from the statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 1999. Comparative information is extracted from the statutory accounts for the financial year ended 31 December 1998, which have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies with an unqualified audit report thereon. 3. The financial statements for the year ended 31 December 1999 will be posted to shareholders today and filed with the Registrar of Companies in due course.
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