Falklands : Falkland Islands Holdings Plc Announcement
Submitted by Falkland Islands News Network (Juanita Brock) 05.08.2004 (Article Archived on 19.08.2004)
At today's Annual General Meeting of Falkland Islands Holdings plc, the Chairman
David Hudd will make the following statement:
FALKLAND ISLANDS HOLDINGS PLC ANNOUNCEMENT
Falkland Islands Holdings PLC
04 August 2004
Falkland Islands Holdings plc
AGM Statement
At today's Annual General Meeting of Falkland Islands Holdings plc, the Chairman
David Hudd will make the following statement:
'Since we issued our preliminary announcement on 23 June 2004, the trading
background in the Falklands has not changed. However, good performances from
Retailing and improved returns from Management Services have more than
compensated for losses in the Fishing Agency and Hotel operations. As a
consequence, the Group's trading results in the first quarter showed an
improvement over last year.
Following the announcement of the Group's results in June 2004, the Company's
balance sheet was strengthened by an institutional placing of approximately 5%
of the Company's share capital, producing net proceeds of £747,000.
The Group has investments in two joint ventures for, respectively, onshore
minerals exploration and offshore oil exploration. Whilst these investments
remain by their nature speculative, both ventures have made good progress in
securing funding, advancing their exploration plans and in crystallising value.
Falkland Minerals Limited (in which the Group has a 22.5% equity interest) and
Falklands Oil & Gas Limited (in which the Group has a 28.9% equity interest)
have recently been established by the participants in those joint ventures and
their admission to AIM is part of the strategic objectives of the board of each
company.
In Falkland Minerals Limited, the analysis and modelling of the onshore aero
magnetic survey for minerals is nearing completion and the initial results are
encouraging. The survey has identified over 20 possible drilling targets which
are being evaluated and a drilling programme is being designed and will commence
later this year.
In Falkland Oil & Gas Limited, work is proceeding on the design of a 2D seismic
survey of the offshore areas of interest which it is hoped to carry out in the
Austral Summer this year.
We have recently increased our shareholding in Portsmouth Harbour Ferry Company
PLC so that we now hold 26.4% of that company's issued share capital, after
having initially purchased 21.6% in May 2004. Our total outlay on this
investment is £932,000. As we expected, the funding application for a tram
system including a tunnel under the harbour, which would have provided an
alternative transport route, was rejected by Government'.
4 August 2004
Enquiries:
Falkland Islands Holdings
David Hudd, Chairman 07771 893 267
College Hill
Nick Elwes 020 7457 2020
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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