TIDMUPL
RNS Number : 6299H
Upland Resources Limited
26 March 2020
26 March 2020
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
("Upland" or the "Company")
INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX-MONTH PERIOD FROM 1 JULY TO 31
DECEMBER 2019
Upland Resources Limited (LSE: UPL), the oil and gas company
actively building a portfolio of attractive upstream assets, is
pleased to announce its interim results for the six-month period
between 1 July 2019 and 31 December 2019.
Highlights include:
-- Steady progress has been made on licence activities in the second half of 2019.
-- Tunisia - on 24 December 2019, the publication of the Decree
of the Minister of Industry and Small and Middle Enterprises was
published in the Official Gazette of the Tunisian Republic. This
marked the commencement of the initial two-year term for the
Prospecting Licence in the Saouaf permit area in Tunisia.
-- Additional Tunisian opportunities have also been identified and are being progressed.
-- Sarawak - the Company is working to progress an award of new
licences in Sarawak, Malaysia where through a number of initiatives
with local parties, Upland maintains a well-placed position.
-- In addition, the Company has identified a number of other
opportunities in South-East Asia (both within and outside Malaysia)
which offer unique and game changing potential for the Company to
partner with established regional players to participate in both
late life and marginal field assets.
-- On the 7 October 2019, Dr Steve Staley, resigned as CEO and
was succeeded by Mr Christopher Pitman as the Interim CEO.
-- In November 2019, Optiva Securities, broker and financial
advisor to Upland, exercised warrants to subscribe for 6,336,154
new shares at 1.3p per share, raising GBP82,370 through the
subscription.
-- Pre-tax loss of GBP516,552 for the six months to 31 December
2019, compared to a GBP414,407 loss for the comparable six months
to 31 December 2018.
-- The Company has no debt and plans to grow through the
identification and closure of significant new business
opportunities which should facilitate access to additional
finance.
Post period end
-- On 6 January 2020, the Board of Directors appointed Mr
Christopher Pitman as the CEO on a permanent basis together with Mr
Aimi Aizal Bin Nasharuddin (based within Malaysia) as a
Non-Executive Director.
-- On 6 March 2020 the Company announced that it had
successfully raised GBP250,000 via a subscription managed by Optiva
Securities Limited. These funds will be employed to further
progress the Company's projects in Tunisia and for general working
capital purposes.
-- Further updates will be provided in due course.
For more detailed information please see the full Director's
Interim Report below. The Interim Report and
Accounts will be available shortly at the Company's website www.uplandres.com
Christopher Pitman, Upland Resources Limited CEO, said:
"We are pleased by the progress that the business has continued
to make particularly with licence activities in respect of the
Saouaf permit area in Tunisia. In addition to these developments we
have also appointed experienced additional non-executive directors
to the Board.
Whilst we are aware that our industry faces challenging
headwinds, we believe that our debt-free capital structure and
pipeline leaves us well placed to pursue exciting portfolio
opportunities, grow the business and provide value to
shareholders."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes
of Article 7 of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse
For further information, please contact:
Upland Resources Limited www.uplandres.com
Christopher Pitman, Tel: 07891 677441
CEO
chris.pitman@uplandres.com
Optiva Securities Limited www.optivasecurities.com
Jeremy King Tel: 020 3137 1904
(Corporate Finance) jeremy.king@optivasecurities.com
Christian Dennis Tel: 020 3411 1903
(Corporate Broker) christian.dennis@optivasecurities.com
FTI Consulting
Ben Brewerton Tel: +44 (0)203 727 1065
ben.brewerton@fticonsulting.com
Christopher Laing Tel: +44 (0)20 3727 1355
ch ristopher.laing @fticonsulting.com
Flowcomms Ltd
Sasha Sethi Tel: 07891 677441
sasha@flowcomms.com
Notes
Upland Resources Limited is an upstream oil and gas company
whose highly experienced management team has a track record of
creating major value for both privately and publicly owned
entrepreneurial oil companies (Surestream Petroleum and Zarara
Energy) and international service companies (Petroleum Geo-Services
and Schlumberger).
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
REPORT OF THE DIRECTORS
FOR THE SIX MONTH PERIODED 31 DECEMBER 2019
Upland Resources ("Upland" or the "Company") has made steady progress
on licence activities in the second half of 2019.
On the 15 August 2019, the Company changed its domicile from the British
Virgin Islands to Jersey to enhance corporate governance. This migration
to Jersey means that the Company has now become subject to the City
code on Takeovers and Mergers.
On 3 September 2019, two additional non-executive directors, Mr Dixon
Wong and Mr Christopher Pitman, were appointed to the Board.
The Company announced on the 20 September 2019 that its wholly owned
subsidiary, Upland Resources (UK Onshore) Limited, and its partners
had been awarded the P2478 and P2470 'Innovate' licences by the UK
Oil and Gas Authority as a result of the competitive UK 31(st) Offshore
Licensing Round. Both licences are located within the northern (P2470)
and southern (P2478) areas of the Inner Moray Firth basin. The licences
are held by Upland Resources (UK Onshore) Limited (40%), Corallian
Energy Limited (45%) and Baron Oil (15%).
On the 7 October 2019, Dr Steve Staley, resigned as CEO and a director
with immediate effect for personal reasons and was succeeded by Mr
Christopher Pitman as the Interim CEO.
Optiva Securities Limited issued an exercise notice on the 8 November
in respect of warrants related to a warrant agreement with the Company
dated 25 November 2016. This warrant exercise raised GBP82,370 through
the subscription for 6,336,154 new shares at 1.3p per share. The New
Ordinary Shares were admitted to the Official List of the FCA on 15
November 2019.
On 24 December 2019, the Decree of the Minister of Industry and Small
and Middle Enterprises dated 14 November 2019 in respect of the Prospecting
Licence in the Saouaf permit area Tunisia was published in the Official
Gazette of the Tunisian Republic. This publication marked the commencement
of the initial two year licence term.
The Company continues to progress an award of a new licence in Sarawak
and has identified other exciting opportunities in Malaysia, elsewhere
in South-East Asia and also Tunisia
Events since the end of the reporting period
On the 6 January 2020, the Board of Directors appointed Mr Christopher
Pitman as the CEO on a permanent basis together with Mr Aimi Aizal
Bin Nasharuddin as a Non-Executive Director.
The Company also announced that it had successfully raised GBP250,000
via a subscription managed by Optiva Securities Limited. These funds
will be employed to further progress the Company's projects in Tunisia
and for general working capital purposes.
Results for the period
The financial results for the six month period ended 31 December 2019
are appended to this report.
Upland made a pre-tax loss of GBP516,552 for the six months to 31 December
2019, compared to a GBP414,407 loss for the comparable six months to
31 December 2018. The principal reasons for the increased costs in
the six-month period are the costs associated with supporting the Company's
activities and one-off costs in connection with the appointment of
new directors to the Board.
The Company has no debt and plans to grow through the identification
and closure of significant new business opportunities which should
facilitate access to additional finance.
The Board of Directors acknowledge that 2020 will be difficult with
extremely challenging conditions caused through the collapse in the
oil price and the uncertainty with regard to the impact of the Coronavirus
pandemic. The current inability to travel freely to our permit areas
and to regions identified as new opportunities will, without doubt,
cause some delays to our 2020 work programme. However, in the current
environment, the costs of undertaking such work programmes* will undoubtably
fall substantially, which will be to the advantage of the Company.
* Note that as per RNS of 24 December 2018 Upland had deposited a US$1
million bank guarantee lodged in favour of the Tunisian Government
against these first phase work commitments. This is in place and will
be released in a phased manner, as the work programme progresses.
Risks and uncertainties
The Group has identified the following as key risks in the second six
months of this financial year:
Sub-surface risks
Risk (1): The success of the business relies on accurate and detailed
analysis of the sub-surface. This can be impacted by poor quality data,
either historical or recently gathered, and limited coverage. Certain
information provided by external sources may not be accurate.
Mitigation: All externally provided and historical data is rigorously
examined and discarded when appropriate. New data acquisition is considered
and adequate programmes implemented, but historical data can be reviewed
and reprocessed to improve the overall knowledge base.
Risk (2): Data can be misinterpreted, leading to the construction of
inaccurate models and subsequent plans.
Mitigation: All analytical outcomes are challenged internally and peer
reviewed. Interpretations are carried out on modern geoscience software.
Corporate risks
Risk: The Group's success depends upon skilled management as well as
technical and administrative staff. The loss of service of critical
members of the Group's team could have an adverse effect on the business.
Mitigation: The Group periodically reviews the compensation and contract
terms of its staff and consultants to ensure they are competitive.
Going Concern
After making enquiries, the Directors have a reasonable expectation
that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational
existence for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, they adopt the going
concern basis in preparing the Company's financial statements.
Auditing
This interim report and accounts for the six month period ended 31
December 2019 (the "Interim Report and Accounts") ha s not been audited
or reviewed pursuant to the Financial Reporting Council guidance on
'Review of Interim Financial Information".
Statement of Directors' Responsibilities
The Interim Report and Accounts is the responsibility of, and has been
approved by, the Directors. The Directors are responsible for preparing
the Interim Report and Accounts in accordance with the Disclosure and
Transparency Rules (the "DTRs") of the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct
Authority (the "FCA"). The DTRs require that the accounting policies
and presentation applied to the half yearly figures must be consistent
with those applied in the latest published annual accounts.
The Directors confirm that, to the best of their knowledge, the set
of financial statements contained in the Interim Report and Accounts,
which have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting
Standard 34, 'Interim Financial Reporting' as adopted by the European
Union, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial
position and profit and loss of the Group, as required by DTR 4.2.2
and in particular include a fair review of:-
* the important events that have occurred during the
half of the financial year and their impact on the
set of financial statements contained in the Interim
Report and Accounts, as required by DTR 4.2.7R;
* the principal risks and uncertainties for the
remaining half of the year as required by DTR 4.2.7R;
and
* related party transactions that have taken place in
the first half of the current financial year.
The Directors of Upland Resources Limited are Bolhassan Di (Non-Executive
Chairman), Christopher Pitman (Chief Executive Officer), Dixon Kit
Seng Wong (Non-Executive), Aimi Nasharuddin (Non-Executive) and Jeremy
King (Non-Executive).
Bolhassan Di Christopher Pitman
Chairman Chief Executive Officer
25 March 2020
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE INTERIM SIX
MONTH PERIODED 31 DECEMBER 2019
6 months 6 months
to 31 December to 31 December
2019 2018
GBP GBP
Revenue - -
Exploration and evaluation expenditure (3,922) -
Administrative expenses (512,630) (342,777)
Operating loss (516,552) (342,777)
Finance costs - (71,630)
Loss before taxation (516,552) (414,407)
Taxation - -
Loss and Total Comprehensive Income for the
Period Attributable to Equity Owners of the
Parent Company (516,552) (414,407)
================ ================
Loss per share in pence - basic and diluted (0.09) (0.07)
================ ================
The results above derive wholly from continuing
operations.
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2019
31 December
2019 30 June 2019
Note GBP GBP
Current assets
Trade and other receivables 2 6,593 104,082
Cash and cash equivalents 792,587 1,064,601
799,180 1,168,683
-------------- ---------------
Total assets 799,180 1,168,683
============== ===============
Equity
Share capital - -
Share premium 7,767,332 7,684,962
Retained earnings (7,248,018) (6,731,466)
Total equity 519,314 953,496
-------------- ---------------
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 3 279,866 215,187
Total equity and liabilities 799,180 1,168,683
============== ===============
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY FOR THE INTERIM SIX MONTH
PERIODED 31 DECEMBER 2019
Premium Retained
on shares earnings Total equity
GBP GBP GBP
At 1 July 2019 7,684,962 (6,731,466) 953,496
Issue of shares 82,370 - 82,370
Loss for the period - (516,552) (516,552)
At 31 December 2019 7,767,332 (7,248,018) 519,314
=============== ================ ================
Premium Retained
on shares earnings Total equity
GBP GBP GBP
At 1 July 2018 7,619,962 (2,336,961) 5,283,001
Issue of shares 65,000 - 65,000
Loss for the period - (414,407) (414,407)
At 31 December 2018 7,684,962 (2,751,368) 4,933,594
=============== ================ ================
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS FOR THE INTERIM SIX MONTH PERIODED 31 DECEMBER 2019
6 months 6 months
to 31 December to 31 December
2019 2018
GBP GBP
Cash Flows from Operating Activities
Loss from operations (516,552) (342,777)
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other
receivables 97,489 (382,097)
Increase/(decrease) in trade and other
payables 64,679 (53,341)
Net cash flow from operating activities (354,384) (778,215)
---------------- ----------------
Cash Flows from Investing Activities
Expenditures incurred on exploration and
evaluation assets - (2,657,087)
Net cash flow from investing activities - (2,657,087)
---------------- ----------------
Cash Flows from Financing Activities
Proceeds from issue of ordinary shares,
net of issue costs 82,370 2,928,131
Net cash generated from financing activities 82,370 2,928,131
---------------- ----------------
Net (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents (272,014) (507,171)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning
of the period 1,064,601 2,173,720
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of
the period 792,587 1,666,549
================ ================
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
NOTES TO THE INTERIM ACCOUNTS
1 Accounting policies
The same accounting policies and methods of computation
are followed in these interim accounts as compared with
the most recent annual financial statements.
2 Trade and other receivables
31 December 30 June
2019 2019
GBP GBP
Other debtors - 2,663
Prepayments 6,593 101,419
6,593 104,082
============ ========
3 Trade and other payables
31 December 30 June
2019 2019
GBP GBP
Trade payables 160,681 59,206
Other payables 26,905 18,571
Accrued expenses 92,280 137,410
------------ --------
279,866 215,187
============ ========
UPLAND RESOURCES LIMITED
NOTES TO THE INTERIM ACCOUNTS (CONTINUED)
4 Related party transactions
The directors are considered to be the key management
personnel of the company. During the interim period,
the company paid fees to directors amounting to GBP76,713
(year ended 30 June 2019 - GBP298,717).
During the interim period, the company was charged fees
and commission of GBP10,000 (year ended 30 June 2019
- GBP20,000) by a company of which a director of the
company is also a director and shareholder.
During the interim period, the company was charged consultancy
fees of GBP18,000 (year ended 30 June 2019 - GBP56,000)
by a director of the company.
5 Commitments and post balance sheet events
Upland's wholly-owned subsidiary, Upland (Saouaf) Limited
("Upland Saouaf"), has signed permit documents, with
its partner ETAP (the Tunisian state oil company), for
the exclusive Saouaf hydrocarbon exploration and appraisal
licence ("the Licence"). The Licence is to be operated
by Upland Saouaf and is held 50/50 in the joint names
of Upland Saouaf and ETAP. The terms of the Licence commit
Upland Saouaf to carry out a minimum work programme including
the acquisition of 300 km of new 2D seismic data. A $1
million bank guarantee has been put in place by Upland,
which will be reimbursed as elements of the work programme
are completed. The Licence is for an initial term of
two years, and may be converted and thereby extended
in term at Upland Saouaf's option, providing the work
commitments of the initial term have been fulfilled within
the two years.
In addition, at the balance sheet date, Upland's wholly-owned
subsidiary, Upland Resources (UK Onshore) Limited ("Upland
UK"), held a 25% interest in PEDL 299. A cost-sharing
arrangement has been put in place under the Joint Operating
Agreement between the co-licencees (INEOS Upstream and
Europa Oil & Gas). Under that arrangement, it is estimated
that Upland UK's share of the costs over the remaining
2 years of the licence will be GBP700,000. However, such
work is subject to its progression by the co-licencees
and the granting of relevant permissions.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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