From the FT on the 19th June

http://search.ft.com/search/article.html?id=040619001094&query=kenmare&vsc_appId=totalSearch&state=Form

COMPANIES UK & IRELAND: Kenmare negotiates $269m loan
By John Murray Brown
Financial Times; Jun 19, 2004



One of the largest debt financings for an independent mining company was announced yesterday when Kenmare Resources agreed a $269m (146.5m) facility to develop the Moma titanium mine in Mozambique.

Drawdown of the debt is contingent on the Irish company raising equity of $79m, lifting the value of the project to $345m.

The company already has commitments of $55m from a number of large investment funds.

Documents will be posted to shareholders on Monday for an open offer to raise up to $42m.

A banker at NM Rothschild, lead advisers on the financing, said the debt package represented three times Kenmare's market capitalisation of $90m.

"I do not think there have been any listed mining companies who have done that," he said.

Among the lenders, the African Development Bank is lending $40m and the European Investment Bank $15m in senior debt and a $40m subordinated loan, reflecting the vital economic benefits to what is the poorest region of one of Africa's poorest countries.

Martin Curwen, of the EIB, said this was the first deal signed under the 2000 Cotonou agreement between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific countries.

He said EIB's presence would "provide comfort" to other lenders. "It is part of our mandate to support projects where the funding would not have been available from the financial markets," he said at yesterday's signing ceremony, attended by Castigo Langa, Mozambique's minister of mineral resources and energy.

KFW, the German development finance institution, is providing $50m, partly tied to the supply of electrical equipment by Siemens.

The Dutch development agency FMO is lending $15m. The only commercial bank involved is ABSA, the South African bank, which is lending $80m to support the purchase of South African goods and services by the mine.

The mine is expected to be in production in the second half of 2006, with annual output of 600,000 tonnes of ilmenite and other titanium minerals that supplies white pigment used in paint and toothpaste.

The company has already raised 4m to purchase a mineral separation plant in Western Australia, which is being dismantled and shipped to the site.

At full production, the mine will account for about 5 per cent of world supply. About two-thirds of world production is controlled by RTZ and Iluka, an Australian company spun out of the old Rennison Goldfields.

FT Comment

* There have been similar financings in the minerals sector but never where the borrowing is three times the borrower's market valuation. The Lihir gold project in Papua New Guinea raised $300m in 1995 but lenders had the comfort that Rio Tinto Zinc owned about 40 per cent of the company. Kenmare's project is 100 per cent-owned by Kenmare, a company that has no cash flow and would have reported a small loss of $40,000 last year but for interest on its bank deposits. This project clearly could transform its fortunes. There are offtake agreements in place for more than half the first five years' production with Dupont and Mitsui. Prices for mineral sands tend to be more stable than base metals, which behave more like a commodity dependent on capital goods demand. The current market cap is little more than the value of a year's production from the mine. An upgrade seems inevitable. Canaccord, the company's broker, has a current price target of 35p. This compares with a close of 17p, down 2p yesterday.


Copyright The Financial Times Ltd

Kenmare Resources (Irish: JEV.IR - news) 48.92p Questor says BUY

Cynics may argue that “they would say that” since RBC is the company’s broker, but Questor also toyed with naming the company as one of the tips of 2012.

That’s because of a supply crunch in the commodity it produces and its 50pc expansion projects will be completed later this year, probably in the third quarter.

The company operates the Moma titanium mine in Mozambique.

Approximately 5m tonnes of titanium dioxide are consumed each year worldwide, mainly in the coatings, plastics and paper industries, and there is insufficient new production of the mineral sands when compared with the potential demand.

The paint used on aeroplanes contains titanium, so large new airline orders for aircraft such as the Boeing Dreamliner are also boosting demand for titanium alloys.

The main mineral sources of the metal oxide are the minerals ilmenite and rutile, but Kenmare also produces zircon, which is a high-value product.

Logistically, the operation is sound. The mine is located on the coast and the company has its own port for offloading the product. Mining (Euronext: SMI.NX - news) of the mineral sand is also relatively low cost as it is done by dredging.

Prices for titanium are expected to rise this year, despite some softening of demand in the fourth quarter.

Larger Australian peer Iluka has said that it will be selling titanium dioxide at prices in the first half of 2012 at prices that are 100pc to 145pc more than 2011 averages. Prices of zircon are expected to be about 30pc higher, it said.

There has also been some softening of demand in China, especially for zircon which is used in ceramic tiles. However, the supply- side dynamics remain fairly sound.

Kenmare itself is seeing legacy contracts come to an end, so it can lock in these higher prices when new contracts are negotiated. There is also talk of a further expansion once the current one is completed in the third quarter of this year.

The shares are trading on a December 2012 earnings multiple of 8.7, falling to just 5.1 in 2013.

The shares are up an impressive 161pc since being tipped on September 5 2010 at 18¾p, compared with a FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) up 4pc. Questor feels there is much further to go. Obviously, after such a strong run, some investors may want to top-slice this investment and sell half of their holding, but Questor’s rating on the shares remains buy.

..
Last week, Canadian bank RBC (MCX: RBCI.ME - news) named FTSE 250 (FTSE: ^FTMC - news) titanium miner Kenmare one of its top picks of 2012, with a price target of 90p a share.

Kenmare Resources (Irish: JEV.IR - news) 48.92p Questor says BUY

Cynics may argue that “they would say that” since RBC is the company’s broker, but Questor also toyed with naming the company as one of the tips of 2012.

That’s because of a supply crunch in the commodity it produces and its 50pc expansion projects will be completed later this year, probably in the third quarter.

The company operates the Moma titanium mine in Mozambique.

Approximately 5m tonnes of titanium dioxide are consumed each year worldwide, mainly in the coatings, plastics and paper industries, and there is insufficient new production of the mineral sands when compared with the potential demand.

The paint used on aeroplanes contains titanium, so large new airline orders for aircraft such as the Boeing Dreamliner are also boosting demand for titanium alloys.

The main mineral sources of the metal oxide are the minerals ilmenite and rutile, but Kenmare also produces zircon, which is a high-value product.

Logistically, the operation is sound. The mine is located on the coast and the company has its own port for offloading the product. Mining (Euronext: SMI.NX - news) of the mineral sand is also relatively low cost as it is done by dredging.

Prices for titanium are expected to rise this year, despite some softening of demand in the fourth quarter.

Larger Australian peer Iluka has said that it will be selling titanium dioxide at prices in the first half of 2012 at prices that are 100pc to 145pc more than 2011 averages. Prices of zircon are expected to be about 30pc higher, it said.

There has also been some softening of demand in China, especially for zircon which is used in ceramic tiles. However, the supply- side dynamics remain fairly sound.

Kenmare itself is seeing legacy contracts come to an end, so it can lock in these higher prices when new contracts are negotiated. There is also talk of a further expansion once the current one is completed in the third quarter of this year.

The shares are trading on a December 2012 earnings multiple of 8.7, falling to just 5.1 in 2013.

The shares are up an impressive 161pc since being tipped on September 5 2010 at 18¾p, compared with a FTSE 100 (Euronext: VFTSE.NX - news) up 4pc. Questor feels there is much further to go. Obviously, after such a strong run, some investors may want to top-slice this investment and sell half of their holding, but Questor’s rating on the shares remains buy.

Greggs (Other OTC: GGGSF.PK - news) 510.5p Questor says HOLD

Not all High Street (BSE: HIGHSTREE.BO - news) operators had a terrible Christmas and bakery chain Greggs is one of them.

In the five weeks to January 7, like-for-like sales were up 5.1pc, with total sales rising 10.8pc. For the full-year, same-store sales rose 1.4pc and total sales were up 5.8pc. This was ahead of analysts’ expectations after the company said it expected the number would be “marginally positive”.

In total, a net 84 new stores were opened, bringing the estate to 1,571 stores, with 90 openings expected in 2012.

The shares are trading on a December 2012 earnings multiple of 13.4 times, falling to 12.2 next year.

The valuation is supported by the dividend, with the shares yielding a prospective 3.7pc, rising to 4.1pc next year. The company has increased its dividend payments every year for the past 26 years.

The shares were first tipped on August 12 2009 at 400p and are now 28pc ahead, compared with a market up 19pc.

The company has proved that it can still grow in difficult times by introducing new product ranges such as porridge.

The shares are below their peak of 550½p in July, but they are now a hold given the market backdrop.

..

That's the same that i posted yesterday , except i deleted the bit about Greggs. Wake up dreamcatcher .... lol

OH DEAR, SORRY. 1-0

Wake up aldwick . :-)) What you posted yesterday, I posted the day before on the other Kenmare site. Are you sure you did not copy mine. Lol 1-1

Maybe

Sell order triggered @ 47.0. Forgot all about this one so bit of a surprise. Target 40.0 stop 52.0

Bid rumour rise this morning , and i think there is a good chance its not just a rumour

.....as long as it's a sensible bid, taking everything into account & not yet another where the joe public PI gets well & truly stuffed, while the board sit there rubbing their hands... I wonder what figures we're talking about here ?

MARKET REPORT: Dealers dream of Kenmare Resources bid from mining giant Rio Tinto
By GEOFF FOSTER
Last updated at 10:05 PM on 8th February 2012
Comments (0)
Share

Mega turnover of almost 37m in FTSE 250 Irish titanium miner Kenmare Resources quite rightly had dealers dreaming of a possible bid. The shares moved 0.75p higher to 50.75p as rumours of a 110p-a-share cash bid from mining giant Rio Tinto (4p dearer at 3873.50p) circulated.
Kenmare has been mentioned in the same breath as Rio before, particularly after James McCulloch, a mining analyst at Irish stockbroker Davy and long-term Kenmare expert, moved to a corporate advisory role within Rio’s Titanium Feedstock department.
Kenmare has a world class asset in the Moma mineral sands mine in Mozambique which has been in production since late 2007. The mine produces 7 per cent of the world’s ilmenite, the main source of titanium metal and titanium dioxide used as a white pigment in paint.

I could handle that sort of figure, if it did come to fruition, although in the long run, the SP could have pushed much higher i'm sure

These guys appear to be selling the same stuff as SRX and have such a big reserve, but does not seem to get the same buying as SRX.

I was gutted at SRX, sat at 30 for ages, so I got out in case deal fell through and then it went off like a rocket! d'oh.

The prospect of all the new higher priced contracts this year surely means a revenue increase of at least 30-40% and therefore should be priced in regardless of takeover mumbles?

ipwil

Yes I agree, but it could be the Chinese who will bid and then a counter bid from Rio

I bought in yesterday with a larger lump than the small holding I had to begin with, so 90, 110, 240, I guess you would take whatever comes your way.....

I used to have a stake in this years ago & it slowly drifted down. Fell off my radar, but now flagged as a possible target by RIO, so worth a small punt imo, even though sp approaching the 60p high.

I still hold a large amount even after banking profit's @50 ,50 and today @55

Kenmare in demand

StockMarketWire.com

Irish mining firm Kenmare Resources (LON:KMR) was up more than 7% as risk appetite increased and speculation continued over a possible bid for the company.

Rumours of a 110p-a-share cash bid from mining giant Rio Tinto are being circulated.

At 3:10pm: (LON:KMR) Kenmare Resources share price was +4.15p at 57.25p

Still climbing gently, but no further info on a possible approach.

Surely the company would hold out for a lot more than £1.10 per share, or is this simply the starting point of negotiations. I for one hope so.
That's on the assumption that any kind of approach has in fact been made at all.....

61p. Lookin' good!