Geiger Counter Ltd : Annual Financial Report

GEIGER COUNTER LIMITED Date of Announcement: 21/12/2011 RELEASE OF ANNUAL REPORT AND FINANCIAL STATEMENTS The Directors announce the release of the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 30 September 2011. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT - FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2011 Introduction The year to 30 September 2011 has been a relatively difficult period for stock markets. The markets were relatively benign until July 2011, when the combination of slowing global growth together with issues around sovereign debt in Europe, caused market participants to rush for the exit. The stock market (as represented by S&P 500) over that period managed to gain 4.7%. Unemployment and the housing market in the US remain a concern for the Federal Reserve. The additional sovereign debt issue in Europe has caused the Federal Reserve to announce that interest rates are not rising at least until June 2013. Loose monetary policy continues to be the weapon of choice to try to get the economy recovering. The emerging economies, such as China and Brazil have been sustaining global growth, but even now, there are increasing concerns that they might slow down. In the uranium space, while sentiment remains poor, there have been a number of encouraging developments. The Investment Manager has already referred to the corporate activity but I felt it was particularly relevant that the Australian Government has given the go ahead for uranium sales to India while the American Government which has been somewhat lukewarm to new mining projects has realised that in 2013 when the supply agreement with Russia finishes, it will have to look for new sources. Finally, one has to ask the question: if Japan and Germany believe they can find alternative energy sources to uranium, when will they tell the world what they are? Investment Performance The Company's share price decreased from 67.25p to 62.0p over the year, which is a decline of 7.8%. This compares favourably with uranium equities (as represented by Cameco) which have declined by 33% over the same period. Your board is very pleased with the way New City Investment Managers have continued to make progress with the portfolio. Outlook The outlook for uranium is very bright. Over the last few months, we have begun to see the appetite for the sector begin to improve, with a number of M&A deals surfacing. Production continues to struggle. We continue to believe that the shortage of uranium is coming and we will see new players driving the market to secure long term uranium supply. We remain bullish of the prospects for the Company going forward. Board Structure As you are aware Bryan Lenygon sadly passed away on 25 November 2010, however, we are pleased to announce that as from 1 May 2011 Richard Lockwood was appointed to the Board. George Baird Chairman December 2011 INVESTMENT ADVISER'S REPORT - FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2011 Looking back over the last 12 months, uranium prices have been relatively benign. It has moved from $46.50/lb to $52.50/lb which represents an increase of 13% for the year. However, this masks the underlying volatility the sector has faced in that same period. Uranium prices reached $73/lb in January 2011 before hitting a low of $49.25/lb in August 2011 and then settling at $52.50/lb. The moves were marked by a key event, the tsunami and earthquake in North East Japan which gave rise to the damage of the nuclear reactor at Fukushima. Prior to the event, the uranium space was gathering momentum as demand and supply for uranium tightened leading to an improvement in uranium prices. This in turn led to a substantial rally in uranium mining shares. Post Fukushima, the appetite for uranium and uranium mining shares disappeared. There was an aggressive sell off of uranium inventory as short term investors feared the worst and the on-going news of Governments reviewing their nuclear policy turned investors negative of the sector. That was six months ago. Subsequently, state owned Enterprises such as Guangdong Nuclear Power Group and Sichuan Hanlong Group continued with their respective bid talks with Kalahari Minerals and Bannerman Resources, of which we are shareholders. Without question, there is a market for quality large uranium deposits. Recently, we have also seen Cameco and Rio Tinto both bid for Hathor, a uranium explorer in the Athabasca basin in Canada. We believe that these moves represent strong companies looking to lock in long term uranium supply at a time when the market for these assets is depressed. Looking ahead, we do not see many alternatives to nuclear power and hence believe that countries which are hungry for energy will continue to include nuclear power into their mix of energy supply. China has recently given the green light for approving new nuclear power stations again and even Japan is looking to re-start all the nuclear power stations which are under inspection by 2012. We have been gradually increasing our weighting in quality uranium companies through this period as we believe that we will see a revival in the sector. The precise trigger for this is still unclear but this very fact is that the worst is behind us. John Wong CQS Asset Management Limited December 2011 For further information, please contact: Lisa Neil Geiger Counter Limited Telephone number: +44 (0) 1534 825336 Email:lisa.neil@rhfsl.com Beth Harris Threadneedle Communications Telephone number: +44 020 7653 9850 Email: beth.harris@threadneedlepr.co.uk   Annual Financial Report: http://hugin.info/140465/R/1573098/489590.pdf This announcement is distributed by Thomson Reuters on behalf of Thomson Reuters clients. The owner of this announcement warrants that: (i) the releases contained herein are protected by copyright and other applicable laws; and (ii) they are solely responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information contained therein. Source: Geiger Counter Ltd via Thomson Reuters ONE [HUG#1573098]
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