Results for the year ended 31 December 2011

RNS Number : 0304D

Equatorial Palm Oil plc

10 May 2012

 



10 May 2012

EQUATORIAL PALM OIL PLC

("EPO" or the "Company")

Audited Results for the year ended 31 December 2011

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Equatorial Palm Oil plc, (AIM: PAL) the AIM listed palm oil production and development company with operations in Liberia, West Africa announces its audited annual results for the year ended 31 December 2011.

Financial Highlights:

·     Maiden revenues achieved from the Company's first crude palm oil ("CPO") sales.

·     Loss of US$2,167,000 (2010: US$4,401,000).

·     Cash held by EPO at year end was US$1,329,000 (2010: US$6,760,000).

·     Cash held by Liberian Palm Developments Ltd. ("LPD"), EPO's 50% joint venture company which holds the oil palm assets, was US$7,854,000 (2010: n/a), excluding a US$10m loan LPD made in October 2011 which has now been repaid in full.

Operational Highlights:

·     Successfully planted 1,100 hectares of new oil palms, having re-habilitated over 3,500 hectares of existing palms to provide interim mill feed.

·     Completed the implementation of the joint venture agreement with BioPalm Energy Limited ("BioPalm"), a subsidiary of the Siva Group, an Indian conglomerate. BioPalm also committed to a cash injection of US$30m and an additional US$30m loan facility guarantee.

·     Strengthened management team with the appointments of Mr. Declan Griffin as Head of Country - Liberia and Mr. Sashi Nambiar as Head of Operations, both with extensive experience managing oil palm estates and large-scale operations.

·     Continued progress on local infrastructure including roads, bridges, housing, schools and health clinics.

Outlook:

·     Continued expansion of the Palm Bay and Butaw nursery sites to accommodate an increased planting schedule.

·     CPO price widely expected to remain strong in the face of production shortfalls and increased demand for sustainable CPO.

Michael Frayne, Executive Chairman of Equatorial Palm Oil commented:

"I am pleased to report on the excellent growth that EPO has achieved in 2011. The Company continues to progress from strength to strength at a time of increasing palm oil prices amid a louder calling for sustainable production. The inauguration and final commissioning of Liberia's only commercial palm oil mill at the Palm Bay Estate puts EPO in a strong position to not only enhance cash flow but to train our employees for future expansion. Furthermore, our progress in planting at the Palm Bay Estate and the expansion of nurseries provides the basis for successful operations in years to come.

Thank you to all of our employees for their hard work and dedication. I look forward to updating the market on continued progress."

Notice of Annual General Meeting

Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Equatorial Palm Oil plc (the "Company") will be held at the offices of SGH Martineau LLP, 5th Floor, One America Square, Crosswall, London EC3N 2SG on Monday 18^th June2012 at 11am.

Equatorial Palm Oil plc Michael Frayne (Executive Chairman) www.epoil.co.uk	[phone]
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser) James Harris / Paul Cocker	[phone]
Mirabaud Securities LLP (Broker) Peter Krens	[phone]
Pelham Bell Pottinger (Financial / Corporate PR) Archie Berens / Philippe Polman	[phone]

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

2011 has been another year of significant progression for Equatorial Palm Oil plc ("EPO" or the "Company").

In February 2011, EPO announced the completion of the implementation of the Joint Venture ("JV") arrangement between Equatorial Biofuels (Guernsey) Limited, a subsidiary of EPO, and BioPalm Energy Limited ("BioPalm"), a subsidiary of Indian conglomerate, the Siva Group.  The arrangement injected US$30 million into Liberian Palm Developments Limited ("LPD"), the JV company in which Equatorial Biofuels (Guernsey) Limited and BioPalm each hold 50%. Additionally, BioPalm will arrange and guarantee a US$30 million loan facility to LPD.

As the operator of LPD, EPO is applying the US$60 million in JV funding to accelerate its strategic development plan in respect of its c.169,000 hectare land position at Palm Bay, Butaw and River Cess.

2011 saw us entering into a new stage of development, marked by the planting of 1,100 hectares of new oil palms and the commencement of production of crude palm oil ("CPO") following the construction and commissioning of the state-of-the-art palm oil mill at Palm Bay.

Liberia is attracting a significant amount of foreign investment, including in the agriculture sector, as the country benefits from further stability in the country's political process. During the period Liberia held its second successful democratic election with the incumbent President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, being elected for a further five year term.

Operational Review

Palm Bay Estate

The Palm Bay Estate is located 25 kilometres from the deep-water port of Buchanan.  LPD will be relocating its head office to Buchanan, given its proximity to Palm Bay and the importance of future operations at the port, where LPD plans to establish a storage tank farm.

During the financial year, LPD achieved the significant milestone of completing the first 1,100 hectares of new planting.  This planting has provided an additional benefit in strengthening the skills base of the planting staff in preparation for a significant increase in planting rates in the years to come. This important employee development and training provides a key foundation to the successful expansion of operations.

The capacity of the nursery on Palm Bay Estate has been significantly increased to over 60 hectares, to support the 2012 and 2013 planting schedule.

Oil Palm Mill

In May 2011, the oil palm mill at Palm Bay Estate was inaugurated following eight months of construction and testing. The small but state-of-the-art mill is capable of processing five tonnes of fresh fruit bunches ("FFB") per hour and is processing the FFB harvested from some of the 3,500 hectares of rehabilitated palms on Palm Bay.

The mill is strategically important to us for several reasons including:

·     training and development of staff - the technology is very similar to that in larger mills, providing staff with a solid foundation in technology and processes for the acquisition and implementation of larger capacity mills to service the future growth in operations and production; and

·     early cash flows and establishment of a route to market - as the only commercial operating mill in Liberia, this will facilitate the establishment of key CPO marketing channels and customer relationships,  which will be of importance when larger volume production comes on stream.

We were honoured to have the mill inaugurated by the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, reflecting the importance to Liberia of the development of LPD's project and the implementation of such value adding processing technology.

First Sales of CPO

First sales of CPO into the Liberian market occurred during the year and a larger sales process is on-going as the volumes of CPO production ramp up.

Butaw Estate

The main activity at Butaw consisted of the establishment of the first nursery and the upgrading of essential facilities including roads, bridges, housing, power and schools.

The nursery was established in September 2011 and now covers over 40 hectares, to support the 2012 and 2013 planting schedule. 

As the second development site, Butaw is progressing well and the Company is excited about the excellent future potential of this Estate. Our current strategy is for Butaw to be planting at a similar rate to Palm Bay by 2013.

Butaw is located 42 kilometres from the deep water port of Greenville where LPD intends to establish a storage tank farm.

River Cess

In 2010 we signed a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the elected representatives of the people of River Cess County in order to work with them to develop a significant oil palm concession. The leaders of River Cess County are very supportive towards the establishment of commercial oil palm agriculture in their county, given the considerable employment and other economic benefits it will bring to this region.

The expansion potential is up to 80,000 hectares and River Cess is ideally located in-between our existing estates, allowing these projects to benefit from infrastructure works at both Butaw and Palm Bay and more importantly access to deep water ports at Buchanan and Greenville.

We are now working with local officials in order to convert the MOU into a full concession with the Liberian government.

Financial Review

The loss of the Group for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011 of $2,167,000 (2010: $4,401,000) was in line with expectations. Cash held by the Group as at 31 December 2011 was $1,329,000 (2010: $6,760,000), which did not include cash held by LPD.

In October 2011, LPD entered into a US$10 million term loan facility agreement for 6 months with two companies affiliated with JV partner BioPalm. This loan to BioPalm of cash that was surplus to the requirements of the JV for the period of the loan, provided the benefit of significantly greater rate of return than is available from deposit with the major banks. The loan was repaid on time and in full on 5 April 2012, together with accrued interest and an arrangement fee totalling US$350,684.93.

As at 31 December 2011, cash held by LPD was $7,854,000 (2010: n/a), which does not include the above US$10 million loan to BioPalm which has now been fully repaid.

The Community

We have always been committed to the social and economic development of the local communities in which we operate. Having an operating mill in place provides a very important and valuable platform to train local workers and increase the skills base for future development. Now that the mill is producing at full capacity, the employees are gaining first-hand experience in the operation and management of a palm oil mill.  Not only will this offset training costs in the future when production will increase significantly, but it will also be a direct influence on the practical engineering, technical skills and operational knowledge gained by the employees.

Furthermore, we continue to support the education of local children, requiring the school attendance of employee's children, whilst also opening the classrooms to children in the area neighbouring the estates. Our schools now have approximately 580 students with a curriculum covering a range of disciplines.

All of these initiatives mean we are playing a significant part in creating a new generation of skilled workers to develop the Liberian economy.

Personnel

During the period, we were pleased to announce the addition of two key senior personnel in Liberia, Mr Declan Griffin as Head of Country - Liberia, and Mr Sashi Nambiar as Head of Operations.

Mr Griffin has the overall responsibility for all in-country operations, including the finance and administration functions, and has almost 30 years of global experience working in similar roles.

Mr Nambiar has 32 years' experience in all aspects of oil palm estates and has supervised the establishment and development of estates with a combined area of more than 100,000 hectares, including managing over 20,000 hectares of new planting development at Ketapang, Indonesia.

During the period, Mr Peter Bayliss resigned from his position as Managing Director of the Company in order to pursue other business interests, with his Director functions assumed by Mr Geoffrey Brown, the Company's Executive Plantations Director.  Mr Brown has been an integral part of the Company's leadership team since the initial involvement in the Liberian project, and he brings almost 40 years' experience in the development and management of oil palm estates around the world.  The Board would like to thank Mr Bayliss for his significant contribution to the Company.

On behalf of the Board I would like to welcome Mr Griffin and Mr Nambiar to our team and to thank all our employees for the tremendous progress that has been achieved during the year.

Outlook

The palm oil market fundamentals continue to look positive, with significant shortfalls in production at a time when demand is expected to continue increasing. The palm oil price continues to strengthen, pushing towards the highest recorded pricing in the last twelve months.

I would like to thank all those involved in the Company for their significant contribution as well as shareholders for their support, and I look forward to updating you on the continued progress in the year ahead and the creation of value for all stakeholders.

Michael Frayne

Executive Chairman

GROUP Statement OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

Year ended 31 December 2011

	Note	2011 $'000	2010 $'000
Revenue		385	-
Administrative expenses		(2,279)	(3,538)
Share options expense		(15)	(694)
Operating loss		(1,909)	(4,232)
Interest payable		-	(169)
Share of operating loss of joint venture		(1,010)	-
Profit on disposal of assets to joint venture		752	-
Loss for the year before and after taxation		(2,167)	(4,401)
Other comprehensive income
Exchange gains/(losses) arising on translation of foreign operations		60	(295)
Total comprehensive income for the year		(2,107)	(4,696)
Loss per share expressed in cents per share
- Basic & diluted		(1.7) cents	(4.7) cents

Group STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION

As at 31 December 2011

Registered Number 5555087

	Note	2011 $'000	2010 $'000
ASSETS
Non-current assets
Investment in joint venture		20,982	-
Property, plant and equipment		-	15,554
		20,982	15,554
Current assets
Inventories		-	508
Receivables		602	490
Cash & cash equivalents		1,329	6,760
		1,931	7,758
LIABILITIES
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		175	545
		175	545
Net current assets		1,756	7,213
NET ASSETS		22,738	22,767
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Share capital		1,914	1,796
Share premium		29,489	27,544
Warrant and option reserve		2,092	2,237
Foreign exchange reserve		(26)	(86)
Retained loss		(10,731)	(8,724)
Total equity		22,738	22,767

STATEMENT OF Cash FlowS

For the year to 31 December 2011

		Group 2011 $'000		Group 2010 $'000		Company 2011 $'000		Company 2010 $'000
Cash flows from operating activities
Loss for the year before and after taxation		(2,167)		(4,401)		(2,154)		(3,693)
Interest payable		-		169		-		169
Decrease/(increase) in receivables		(111)		63		(408)		355
Decrease in payables		(370)		(2,654)		(221)		(2,779)
Increase in inventories		-		(508)		-		-
Depreciation		2		494		2		31
Share options expensed		15		694		15		694
Share of operating loss of joint venture		1,010		-		1,010		-
Profit on disposal of assets to joint venture		(752)		-		-		-
Net cash outflow from operating activities		(2,373)		(6,143)		(1,756)		(5,223)
Cash flows from investing activities
Loans to subsidiaries		-		-		-		(6,053)
Investment in joint venture		(4,658)		-		(4,658)		-
Payments to acquire property, plant and equipment		-		(5,001)		-		-
Net cash outflow from investing activities		(4,658)		(5,001)		(4,658)		(6,053)
Cash flows from financing activities
Repayment of short term borrowings		-		(1,040)		-		(1,040)
Issue of ordinary share capital		2,063		19,960		2,063		19,960
Share issue costs		-		(655)		-		(655)
Interest paid		-		(169)		-		(169)
Net cash inflow from financing activities		2,063		18,096		2,063		18,096
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents		(4,968)		6,952		(4,351)		6,820
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		6,760		100		6,443		53
Exchange (losses)/gains on cash and cash equivalents		(463)		(292)		(763)		(430)
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period		1,329		6,760		1,329		6,443

GROUP Statement of Changes IN EQUITY

For the period ended 31 December 2011

	Called up share capital	Share premium reserve	Foreign exchange reserve	Warrant and option reserve	Retained earnings	Total equity
GROUP	$'000	$'000	$'000	$'000	$'000	$'000
As at 1 January 2010	463	8,937	208	30	(4,323)	5,315
Share capital issued	1,333	19,262	-	1,513	-	22,108
Cost of share issue	-	(655)	-	-	-	(655)
Issue of share options	-	-	-	694	-	694
Total comprehensive income for the period	-	-	(294)	-	(4,401)	(4,695)
As at 31 December 2010	1,796	27,544	(86)	2,237	(8,724)	22,767
As at 1 January 2011	1,796	27,544	(86)	2,237	(8,724)	22,767
Share capital issued	118	1,945	-	-	-	2,063
Exercise of warrants and options	-	-	-	(160)	160	-
Share based payments	-	-	-	15	-	15
Total comprehensive income for the period	-	-	60	-	(2,167)	(2,107)
As at 31 December 2011	1,914	29,489	(26)	2,092	(10,731)	22,738

Notes to financial statements

For the period 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2011

Basis of preparation

These financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as adopted by the European Union and IFRIC interpretations and with those parts of the Companies Act, 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS.

These financial statements have been prepared on a going concern basis.

Investment in joint venture

On 3 February 2011 the Group completed a joint venture agreement with BioPalm Energy Limited. The joint venture agreement provides for equity investment in the Joint Venture Company (Liberian Palm Developments Limited) of US$30.0 million (US$7.5 million from Equatorial Biofuels (Guernsey) Limited, a subsidiary of EPO, on behalf of the Company and US$22.5 million from BioPalm Energy).  Furthermore, BioPalm Energy will arrange and guarantee an additional US$30.0 million loan facility to the Joint Venture Company.

Upon acquiring a 50% interest in Liberian Palm Developments Limited in exchange for the transfer of assets, the following gain arose:

	$'000	$'000
50% share of the net assets of Liberian Palm Developments Limited		21,992
Less net assets transferred to Liberian Palm Developments Limited:
Cash	(4,658)
Assets under construction	(3,222)
Leasehold concession	(7,644)
Plant and equipment	(527)
Plantation development	(4,679)
Other	(510)
		(21,240)
Profit on disposal of assets to JV		752

The Group's interest in the joint venture can be accounted for either under the equity method or the proportionate consolidation method. However the latter may cease to be an option in the future due to IFRS 11 becoming effective. Due to these changes the Directors have decided to adopt the equity method for the Group's interest in Liberian Palm Developments Limited. The results of the joint venture for the year to 31 December 2011 were as follows:

	31 December 2011
	$'000
Non-current assets	22,083
Current assets	20,989
Non-current liabilities	-
Current liabilities	(1,106)
TOTAL NET ASSETS	41,966
Income	229
Expenses	(2,249)
Loss after tax	(2,020)

The Company, through its investment in Equatorial Biofuels (Guernsey) Limited, owns a 50% interest in Liberian Palm Developments Limited. The Group's interest in Liberian Palm Developments Limited is as follows:

	31 December 2011
	$'000
Interest in joint venture at 1 January 2011	-
Transfer of assets to joint venture	21,992
Share of losses of joint venture	(1,010)
Dividend received from Liberian Palm Developments Limited	-
Interest in joint venture at 31 December 2011	20,982

Availability of accounts

The audited Annual Report and Financial Statements for the 12 months ended 31 December 2011 will shortly be sent to shareholders and published at www.epoil.co.uk.

 

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