BWA Group plc

Earnings Release • Oct 1, 2020

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

BWA Group PLC - Final Results for the 8 months to 31 December 2019

PR Newswire

London, September 30

	30 September 2020

Prior to publication, the information contained within this announcement was deemed by the Company to constitute inside information for the purposes of Article 7 under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). With the publication of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public domain.

BWA Group PLC

(“BWA” or “the Company”)     

Final Results for the 8 months to 31 December 2019

BWA Group plc [AQSE: BWAP], which has mineral exploration licences split between Canada and Cameroon at various stages of development and is quoted on London’s AQSE Growth Market (formerly NEX), is pleased to announce its final results and the publication of its audited annual report and accounts for the year to 31 March 2020. A copy of the report and accounts for the 8 months to 31 December 2020 (the “Annual Report”) has been posted on the Company’s website, http://www.bwagroupplc.com, and can also be viewed here:

https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1295309/BWA_31_Dec_19_Final.pdf

Key elements from the Annual Report have been extracted and can be viewed below.

Ends –

For further information: 

BWA Group PLC Richard Battersby Chairman	+44 (0)7836 238172 [email protected]
Allenby Capital Limited Corporate Adviser  Nick Harriss/James Hornigold	+44 207 3328 5656
Abchurch Financial Public Relations Julian Bosdet	+44 (0)20 7459 4070 [email protected]

REVIEW OF BUSINESS

This review covers the period of eight months to 31 December 2019.    On 30 September 2019 the Company completed the investment in 100% of the equity of Kings of the North Corp ("KOTN") from St George's Eco-Mining Corp ("St George's") and other vendors.  As part of that transaction Mr Vilhjalmur Vilhjalmsson was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of both the Company and KOTN.  Mr Vilhjalmsson is also Chief Executive Officer of St George's.  Unfortunately, it quickly became clear Mr Vilhjalmsson needed to spend more time on the business of St George's and was unable to commit sufficient time to BWA and KOTN and he resigned as a director of the Company on 18 November 2019.  This left KOTN without any executive management and before an appointment could be made the COVID pandemic made travel to Canada impossible and the business was unable to progress.  This situation continued for some months with no development being achieved.  The BWA board, therefore, determined the investment in KOTN should be sold and an agreement in principle has been reached with St George's that they and the other original vendors will buy BWA's shareholding.  In the period under review the investment in KOTN was held at the end of the period and, as the investment was classified as a subsidiary held as part of an investment portfolio, no income or expenditure has been included in the Income Statement.

The disposal of the KOTN investment is described in Post Balance Sheet Events in note 18 of the Annual Report.

The Company's interest in rutile sands licences in Cameroon is held via its interest in BWA Resources (UK) Limited. This investment is also classified as a subsidiary held as part of an investment portfolio.  Prior to the year end the Cameroon company BWA Resources Cameroon Limited ("BWARC") received its first licence for exploration for rutile sands at an area North East of the Yaoundé, the capital of Cameroon, covering nearly 500 sq. km.  Immediately after the year end a second licence for an area of some 130 sq. km was received at Dehane which is near the coastal city of Douala.    BWARC has a locally based management team in Cameroon which has meant the company has been able to continue operating, albeit at less than optimum level, during the pandemic.  The two areas have been marked out during this period and some very preliminary material sampling carried out which has indicated some potentially interesting results.

Together with the investment in BWA Resources (UK) Limited, the BWA board consider the investment in Mineralfields Group Limited, which was BWA's introduction to the opportunities in Cameroon, to form part of the Company’s total investment in the Cameroon project.

During the period a thorough review of the investment in Prepaid Card Services Limited was carried out.  As this investment had become no longer core to the investment focus of BWA it was decided not the spend further management time in seeking to develop the company and, as a result, the value of the investment, which is recognised as Available-for-Sale, has been written down to £1.

Following the resignation of Mr Vilhjalmsson, and to increase the board's experience in the mining sector, Mr James Hogg was appointed as an additional non-executive director on 8 June 2020.  Mr Hogg is an experienced mining engineer and managing director of Addison Mining Services Limited, a consultancy operating in the mining exploration field.

Post the year end the effects of the pandemic have been serious for the Company, as detailed above, and delays in communication which have, in turn, delayed the Company's fund-raising activities as well as the publication of these accounts.  It is to be hoped business activity returns to more normal levels in the near future.

Events post the year-end have been challenging but the board is confident of its progress in Cameroon.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS

The directors will use their experience to identify appropriate targets, carry out due diligence and negotiate acquisitions and investments.  When appropriate, the directors may consider further fundraising to provide additional resources for the company ahead of such an acquisition or investment.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been severe as travel to the company's various investments in Canada and Cameroon has not been possible since md-February.  In particular it has proved impossible to manage effectively the investment in Kings of the North in Canada where a whole season has been lost due to the inability to plan and implement work programmes from the UK.  In August 2020 the board determined that the company would be better served divesting the Canadian operation to concentrate on the operation in Cameroon where the subsidiary there had staff in-country and where it has proved possible to support activities from the UK.  Accordingly, it was announced in August that the Kings of the North business would be sold back to the original vendors, St. George's Eco-Mining Corp and other individual vendors.

In Cameroon the focus is on doing work on the two licence areas to determine the best areas for future exploration and to gain early-stage opinions on the quality of deposits.

BWA GROUP PLC

INCOME STATEMENT 

FOR THE PERIOD 1 MAY 2019 TO 31 DECEMBER 2019

Period

1.5.19

to                                Year Ended

31.12.19                                   30.4.19

(as restated)

Notes                                                     £                                                £

TURNOVER                                                                                                                        -                                                 -

Administrative expenses                                                                                            378,104                                    110,876

(378,104)                                 (110,876)

Other operating income                                                                                              60,000                                              -

Loss on revaluation of investments                   12                                                 (314,285)                                       (1,877)

OPERATING LOSS                                         7                                                (632,389)                                       (112,753)

Interest receivable and similar income			7			48
Interest payable and similar charges	9	(38,078)				(32,577)
LOSS BEFORE TAXATION			(670,460)			(145,282)

Tax on loss                                                     10                                                               -                                                    -

LOSS FOR THE FINANCIAL PERIOD	(670,460)			(145,282)

Earnings per share expressed

in pence per share:                                         11

Basic                                                                                                                          -0.41                                            -0.12

Diluted                                                                                                                        -0.41                                            -0.12

BWA GROUP PLC

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME 

FOR THE PERIOD 1 MAY 2019 TO 31 DECEMBER 2019

Period

1.5.19

to                                         Year Ended

31.12.19                                            30.4.19

(as restated)

Notes                                            £                                                         £

LOSS FOR THE PERIOD                                                                               (670,460)                                          (145,282)

OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME                                                                         -                                                   -

TOTAL COMPREHENSIVE INCOME FOR THE PERIOD	(670,460)			(145,282)

BWA GROUP PLC (REGISTERED NUMBER: 00255647)

BALANCE SHEET

31 DECEMBER 2019

2019                                                 2019

Notes                        £                           £                           £                           £

FIXED ASSETS

Investments                                                            12                                               5,179,414                                            608,169

CURRENT ASSETS

Debtors                                                                   13                   144,839                                            160,748

Cash at bank                                                                                   15,973                                              12,302

160,812                                            173,050

CREDITORS

Amounts falling due within one year	14	(152,554)			(140,151)

NET CURRENT ASSETS                                                                                              8,258                                              32,899

TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES	5,187,672			641,068

CAPITAL AND RESERVES

Called up share capital                                         17                                               1,355,129                                            602,659

Share premium                                                      18                                                    12,663                                              12,663

Other reserve                                                         18                                                  293,493                                            607,778

Capital redemption reserve                                 18                                                  288,625                                            288,625

Equity reserve                                                        18                                               4,711,958                                            247,364

Retained earnings                                                 18                                             (1,474,196)                                      (1,118,021)

SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS                                                                                   5,187,672                                            641,068

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and authorised for issue on 30thSeptember 2020 and were signed on its behalf by:

R G Battersby

........................................................................

R G Battersby - Director

BWA GROUP PLC

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

FOR THE PERIOD 1 MAY 2019 TO 31 DECEMBER 2019

Called up

share                Retained                Share

capital                earnings             premium

£                           £                           £

Balance at 1 May 2018 (as restated)                                                                        602,659             (974,616)                  12,663

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive loss                                                                                                       -             (145,282)                           -

Reserves transfer                                                                                                                   -                    1,877                           -

Balance at 30 April 2019 (as restated)                                                                      602,659          (1,118,021)                12,663

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive loss                                                                                                       -              (670,460)                         -

Reserves transfer                                                                                                                    -               314,285                          -

Issue of share capital                                                                                                  752,470                            -                          -

Balance at 31 December 2019                                                                              1,355,129          (1,474,196)                 12,663

Capital

Other              redemption             Equity                   Total

reserve                reserve                reserve                 equity

£                           £                           £                           £

Balance at 1 May 2018 (as restated)                                        609,655                 288,625                 225,364               764,350

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive loss                                                                          -                            -                            -             (145,282)

Reserves transfer                                                                             (1,877)                           -                            -                            -

Convertible loan note interest                                                                   -                            -                 22,000                     22,000

Balance at 30 April 2019 (as restated)                                         607,778               288,625               247,364                  641,068

Changes in equity

Total comprehensive loss                                                                          -                            -                            -             (670,460)

Reserves transfer                                                                         (314,285)                           -                            -                            -

Issue of share capital                                                                                  -                            -                            -              752,470

Convertible loan notes issued                                                                   -                            -            4,841,000              4,841,000

Convertible loan note interest                                                                   -                            -                 15,611                 15,611

Conversion of loan notes                                                                           -                            -              (392,017)            (392,017)

Balance at 31 December 2019                                                    293,493                 288,625            4,711,958             5,187,672

BWA GROUP PLC

CASH FLOW STATEMENT

FOR THE PERIOD 1 MAY 2019 TO 31 DECEMBER 2019

Period

1.5.19

to                                             Year Ended

31.12.19                                            30.4.19

Notes                                                     £                                                         £

Cash flows from operating activities

Cash generated from operations                          1                                                      (68,595)                                            (86,113)

Interest paid                                                                                                                    (9,212)                                              (7,978)

Net cash from operating activities                                                                                 (77,807)                                            (94,091)

Cash flows from investing activities

Purchase of fixed asset investments                                                                             (39,029)                                                         -

Interest received                                                                                                                      7                                                      48

Net cash from investing activities                                                                                 (39,022)                                                     48

Cash flows from financing activities

New loans in period                                                                                                       16,500                                                30,000

Convertible loan notes issued                                                                                     101,000                                                          -

Amount introduced by directors                                                                                      3,000                                                          -

Net cash from financing activities                                                                               120,500                                                 30,000

Increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents			3,671			(64,043)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	2	12,302				76,345

Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	2	15,973			12,302