To view the PDF file, sign up for a MySharenet subscription.

KIBO ENERGY PLC - Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2023

Release Date: 23/12/2024 14:00
Code(s): KBO     PDF:  
Wrap Text
Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2023

Kibo Energy PLC (Incorporated in Ireland)
(Registration Number: 451931)
(External registration number: 2011/007371/10)
LEI Code: 635400WTCRIZB6TVGZ23
Share code on the JSE Limited: KBO
Share code on the AIM: KIBO
ISIN: IE00B97C0C31
('Kibo' or 'the Company')

Dated: 23 December 2024
                          Kibo Energy PLC ('Kibo' or the 'Company')
                          Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2023

Kibo Energy PLC ("Kibo" or the "Company") is pleased to release its consolidated annual financial
results for the year ended 31 December 2023. The Company's Annual Report, which contains the
full financial statements, is in the process of being prepared for dispatch to shareholders. A copy of
this Annual Report will also be available on the Company's website at https://kibo.energy/wp-
content/uploads/Kibo-Annual-Report-2023-Final.pdf.

Details of the date and venue for the Company's AGM will be announced in due course.

These accounts cover the period prior to the Company's decision to dispose of its operating
assets as held by Kibo Mining (Cyprus) Limited and therefore should be read in that context.
Similarly, the Company disposed of its interest in MED on 30 September 2024. The Company
is currently an AIM Rule 15 cash shell having had the disposal of Kibo Cyprus approved by
Shareholders on 11 October 2024. As such the Company has six months to complete a Reverse
Takeover pursuant to AIM Rule 14, failing which its shares will be suspended from trading on
AIM.

Overview
Financial results (includes the consolidated results of MAST Energy Developments Plc)
   • Total revenues £341,207 (2022: £1,036,743).
   • Operating loss £5,518,089 (2022: £ 10,570,952 loss).
   • Loss after tax for the year ended December 2023 £5,715,341 (2022: £10,908,524 loss)
      includes:
       § £97,340 loss (2022: £181,684 loss) from the equity accounted results of Katoro Gold
           Plc ("Katoro"), which is separately funded.
       § £3,539,394 loss (2022: £2,732,982 loss) from the consolidated results of Mast Energy
           Developments Plc ("MED"), which is separately funded.
       § £2,289,372 (2022: £7,038,930) impairment loss mainly on Mast Energy Developments
           plc (Bordersley and Stather Road sites) due to the current market conditions, most
           notably the high inflation and interest rates.
   • Administrative expenditure decreased to £2,164,670 in the year ended December 2023 (2022:
      £2,579,028).
   • Listing and capital raising fees increased from £363,368 in 2022 to £855,323 in 2023.
   • Renewable energy and exploration project expenditure of £326,093 (2022: £847,567)
      incurred in 2023 by Kibo's subsidiaries being mainly MAST Energy Developments plc on
      Bordersley, Pyebridge and Rochdale and on Sustineri Energy (Pty) Ltd on its waste-to-
      energy project in South Africa.
   • Cash outflows from company operating activities have decreased to £826,268 (2022:
      £2,595,108 cash outflow).
   • Group net debt position (cash less debt) is (£6,238,964) (2022: (£5,032,945) net debt).
   • Company net debt position (cash less debt) is (£2,318,631) (2022: (£2,659,817) net debt.
   • Basic and diluted loss per share of £0.001 for 2023 (2022: basic and diluted £0.003).
   • Headline loss per share of £0.0004 for December 2023 (2022: headline loss per share of
      £0.0009).
Operational highlights in the year 2023 to date

   •   Commenced with an optimisation and integration study into the production of synthetic oil
       from non-recyclable plastic waste on the 2.7 MW plastic-to-syngas project under Sustineri
       Energy (Pty) Ltd ('Sustineri Energy' or 'Sustineri'), a joint venture ('JV') in which Kibo holds
       65% and Industrial Green Energy Solutions ('IGES') holds 35%, which could add a potential
       accelerated additional revenue stream to the project.
   •   As part of the Mbeya Power Project, the Company has determined a due diligence scope of
       work and process for the Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited ('TANESCO') in line
       with key project milestones and established a Joint Technical Committee to ensure these
       milestones are met as agreed to, as previously announced by the Company with regards to
       its renewed Memorandum of Understanding ('MOU').
   •   Kibo subsidiary Mast Energy Developments plc ('MED') relinquished its existing T-4
       Capacity Market ('CM') contract for its Pyebridge site and was successful in the pre-
       qualification for two new bids, which resulted in a T-1 CM contract at £60/kW/pa and a T-
       4 CM contract that cleared at a record price of £63/kW/pa.
   •   MED furthermore reprofiled the outstanding loan balances on its existing loan facilities as
       well as entered a Heads of Terms ('HoT') for a new JV agreement between MED and a new
       institutional-led consortium, who will inject all required capital into the JV with an expected
       total investment value of c. £31 million, with no funding contribution required from MED.
   •   In July 2023, the Sustineri biofuel project was granted an integrated Environment
       Authorisation ('EA') (RNS dated 3 July 2023) and a further integration study is currently
       underway to align the test results with feedstock characteristics, as previously announced in
       an RNS dated 2 May 2023.

Post period highlights

   •   Ajay Saldanha and Louis Coetzee retired from the Board as directors of the Company on 10
       January 2024 and 5 July 2024 respectively.
   •   On 11 January 2024 the Company announced the allotment of 500,000,000 new ordinary
       Kibo shares of €0.0001 each to RiverFort representing conversion of accrued fees and
       interest totalling £161,000 forming part of the outstanding balance of £1,106,146.72
       reported by the Company owing to RiverFort under the Facility Restatement Agreement
       signed on 11 April 2023. The conversion price was £0.000322 (0.0322 pence) calculated as
       92% of the lowest daily VWAP over the ten (10) Trading Days immediately preceding the
       date of the conversion notice in accordance with the terms of the Facility Restatement
       Agreement.
   •   On 8 March 2024, a further 81,081,081 shares in settlement of an invoice to a separate
       service provider at a deemed price of 0.037p for a total of £30,000 were issued.
   •   On 16 January 2024 the Company provided a strategy update on its bio-coal development
       test work as part of its commitment to on-going sustainable clean energy solutions. It advised
       that it is currently formulating a joint development agreement with a multinational food and
       beverage producer ("the Client") intended to be funded equally (i.e., 50-50) by Kibo and the
       Client. The objective of this collaboration is to build and operate a pilot plant that will
       produce bio-coal as a preliminary step towards the establishment of a comprehensive
       production-scale facility. This initiative, subject to a successful pilot plant and financing,
       will enable the Client to transition from the use of fossil coal to bio-coal in its comprehensive
       boiler fleet, without any reconfiguration, aligning with established Environmental, Social
       and Governance (ESG) compliance standards. Furthermore, it noted that it has received
       conditional preliminary approval for development funding, subject to due diligence, from a
       prominent development banking institution in Southern Africa for one of the Company's
       existing waste-to-energy projects. It should be noted that Kibo no longer has any interest in
       this project following the sale of Kibo Mining (Cyprus) Limited to Aria Capital Management
       Limited in October 2024.
   •   On 9 February 2024 the Company held an extraordinary general meeting where it obtained
    shareholder approval to renew its ability to issue shares without applying pre-emption rights
    and to update its Memo & Articles of Association to align with all authorities approved by
    Shareholders at previous general meetings.
•   On 25 July 2024 the Company held an extraordinary general meeting where it obtained
    shareholder approval to increase its ordinary authorised share capital to 30 billion shares of
    €0.0001 each.
•   On 11 October 2024 the Company held an extraordinary general meeting where it obtained
    shareholder approval for the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Kibo Mining (Cyprus)
    Limited to Aria Capital Management Limited.
•   On 7 June 2024, the Company announced a major corporate restructuring and repositioning
    of the Company that included, inter alia, the conditional appointment of four new directors
    to the board including a new CEO and non -executive Chairman, creditor restructuring and
    settlement, review of its existing energy portfolio, Option awards to directors and a Placing
    for £500,000.
•   On 20 June 2024 the Company announced a modification to its announcement on 7 June
    whereby the number of new directors to be appointed to the board was reduced from four to
    two, and a revised reduced placing of £340,000 by way of new broker sponsored placing
    and private subscriptions.
•   On 25 June 2024, the Company announced that it was unlikely it could meet its 30 June
    2024 deadline for the publication of its 2023 audited accounts following which it would be
    suspended from trading on AIM effective 7:30 am. on 1 July 2024 and also provided details
    for the admission of the new shares to be issued further to the £340,000 placing announced
    on 20 June 2024.
•   On 27 June 2024, the Company announced further changes to the placing details announced
    on 20 June 2024 as regards placing amount, placing price, placees and schedule for
    admission of placing shares to AIM. The placing amount was increased from £340,000 to
    £350,000 and at a placing price of 0.0084 pence and the issue of 4,166,666,666 new ordinary
    Kibo shares. (the "Placing Shares"). The entire placing amount was subscribed for by a
    private investor to be settled in two tranches with 1,785,714,286 Placing Shares (Tranche
    1) for a consideration of £150,000, settling immediately and 2,380,952,380 Placing Shares
    (Tranche 2) for a consideration of £200,000 settling following Kibo shareholder approval
    for an increase in authorized share capital of the Company at a General Meeting to be held
    as soon as possible after settlement of Tranche 1; and all Kibo creditor conversions as noted
    in the 7 June and 20 June RNS Announcement being settled in full. Admission of the
    shares to AIM was scheduled to coincide with the lifting of the Company's share trading
    suspension, such trading suspension subsequently coming into effect as anticipated from 30
    June 2024 and as announced by the Company on 1 July 2024.
•   On the 5 July 2024, the Company announced the stepping down of Louis Coetzee as CEO
    of the Company the appointment of Cobus van der Merwe as the Interim CEO of the
    Company.
•   On 18 July 2024 the Company announced the appointment of Clive Roberts as non-
    executive chairman of the Company.
•   On 5 August 2024, the Company announced the completion of the creditor conversions
    (credit restructuring) first announced on 7 June 2024) following shareholder approval for an
    increase in its authorised capital at its EGM on 25 July 2024 which was required to create
    sufficient authorised share headroom for the creditor conversion to be implemented.
•   On 16 September 2024, the Company announced that it had signed a binding term sheet (the
    "Term Sheet") with Swiss company, ESTI AG to acquire a diverse portfolio of renewable
    energy projects across Europe and Africa spanning wind and solar generation, agri-
    photovoltaics and technology development by way of a proposed reverse takeover
    transaction. Under the Term Sheet Aria Capital Management Limited ("Aria), a global asset
    management company were to be appointed as the arrange to the reverse takeover
    transaction.
•   On the 19 September 2024, the Company announced that it had signed a sale agreement with
    Aria Capital Management Limited for the purchase by Aria of Kibo's its wholly owned
    subsidiary Kibo Mining (Cyprus) limited subject to shareholder approval as required under
    AIM Rules. Shareholder approval was subsequently obtained at a Kibo EGM on 11 October
    2024 from which date the Company was considered an AIM Rule 15 cash shell. As a cash
    shell, it was noted that the Company had six months from 11 October 2024 to undertake a
    Reverse Takeover or otherwise will be suspended, after which it will have a further six
    months to complete a Reverse Takeover or otherwise be cancelled from trading on AIM.
•   On 3 December 2024, the Company announced that it had terminated the Term Sheet by
    mutual consent with ESTGI AG and secured a loan facility for up to £500,000 from Aria
    (the "Aria Facility") The Company noted that it had taken this decision as it believed that, it
    does have sufficient time to secure all relevant information in a timely manner necessary to
    complete the ESTGI AG reverse takeover particularly noting the Company will have been
    suspended for 6 months on 31 December 2024. The Company noted that it will now focus
    on completing and publishing its audited accounts to 31 December 2023 and interim
    accounts to 30 June 2024 before 31 December 2024 to enable the Company's current
    suspension from trading on AIM to be lifted. Following resumption of trading, the Company
    will be noted that it will seek an alternative project portfolio to proceed with a revised
    transaction (the "Revised Transaction") and that it is already evaluating a number of project
    acquisition opportunities.
•   The Aria Facility is to provide the Company with working capital for the next four months
    (to 31 March 2025) until it is able to identify and complete a Revised Transaction.
•   The Company also announced that it had also signed a Deed of Amendment to the terms of
    its outstanding loan facility with River Global Opportunities PCC limited (the "RiverFort
    Loan"). The terms of the RiverFort Loan required RiverFort's consent for the Company to
    enter into another loan facility with another institution.
•   These measures summarised above amount to a business re-set for the Company where it
    intends to move ahead under the stewardship of the reconstituted board by transitioning Kibo
    to a broader based energy company.

    Disposal, loss of control and deconsolidation of Mast Energy Developments
•   On 6 June 2024, the Company entered into an agreement with Riverfort Global
    Opportunities in which it ceded its loan with Mast Energy Developments Plc (MED) through
    its subsidiary Kibo Mining (Cyprus) Limited to Riverfort in partial settlement of its loan
    with Riverfort. The loan with Riverfort Global Opportunities and a transaction date balance
    of £767,205 was reduced to £400,000 in exchange for the cession of the £797,396 loan
    receivable from MED.
•   The loan receivable from MED was payable on demand and was historically partially settled
    with shares issued in MED. The directors considered the loan and historic precedent of
    conversion thereof as part of their assessment on control over MED in terms of IFRS 10.
•   The directors determined that the combined factors of significant reduction in shareholding
    in MED during the 2024 year, and the disposal of the loan receivable from MED and
    resulting convertibility of the loan through shares issued, resulted in loss of control of MED
    with effect from 7th of June 2024. From this date onwards MED was recognised as an
    associate and equity accounted until the investment in MED was disposed of in full on the
    30th of September 2024.
•   As a result of the investment in MED being reclassified as an associate and the Group
    accounting policy of investments in listed associates being measured at fair value of the
    shares at market value, the Group expects impairments and gains on disposals of MED
    shares to amount to £12,482 and £268,497 respectively in its 30 June 2024 interim results.
    The gain on disposal is as a result of the proceeds from share disposals and the recovery of
    loan and fair value of the retained MED shares exceeding the net asset value thereof on
    disposal date.
•   The retained investment in MED was disposed of in September 2024 to Riverfort for
    £120,074.

    Disposal of investment in Kibo Energy Botswana Limited
•   The Group disposed of its interest in Kibo Energy Botswana Limited on 31 January 2024 to
    Aria Capital Management Limited for an amount of £70,000. The shareholding of Shumba
      Energy Limited did not form part of this agreement and was transferred to Kibo Energy
      (Cyprus) Limited (KMCL) pending secretarial finalisation. The transfer was completed in
      September 2024. The value of Kibo Energy Botswana Limited was represented by the
      investment in Shumba Energy Limited of £307,725. As Kibo Energy Botswana was held at
      a £Nil balance the group expects a profit on disposal of £70,000 in its 30 June 2024 interim
      results.

      Disposal of investment in Kibo Mining (Cyprus) Limited
  •   The Group disposed of its interest in Kibo Mining (Cyprus) Limited (KMCL) and its
      subsidiaries on 16 September 2024 for £Nil; the disposal did not include MED which
      contributed £1,902,936 of the carrying value of KMCL of £2,210,661 as at 31 December
      2024. The disposal of the remaining carrying value of £307,725, represented by the
      investment in Shumba, will result in a loss on disposal of £307,725 of Kibo for the year
      2024.
  •   The disposals above came about after the restructuring process initiated in 2024.

Going Concern

  •   The financial statements have been prepared on the going concern basis which contemplates
      the continuity of normal business activities and the realisation of assets and the settlement
      of liabilities in the normal course of business. In performing the going concern assessment,
      the Board considered various factors, including the availability of cash and cash equivalents;
      data relating to working capital requirements for the foreseeable future; cash-flows from
      operational commencement, available information about the future, the possible outcomes
      of planned events, changes in future conditions, the current global economic situation due
      to the ongoing Ukraine and Israel and Gaza conflicts, and the responses to such events and
      conditions that would be available to the Board.
  •   The Board has, inter alia, considered the following specific factors in determining whether
      the Group is a going concern:
      § The significant financial loss for the year amounting to £5,715,341 (2022: £10,908,524);
      § Cash and cash equivalents readily available to the Group in the amount of £64,057 in
          order to pay its creditors and maturing liabilities in the amount of £5,453,266 as and
          when they fall due and meet its operating costs for the ensuing twelve months (2022:
          £163,884 and £4,192,170 respectively);
      § Whether the Group has available cash resources, or equivalent short term funding
          opportunities in the foreseeable future, to deploy in developing and growing existing
          operations or invest in new opportunities; and
      § Investment and associated funding opportunities available to the company after disposal
          of its Cyprus subsidiary, Kibo Mining (Cyprus) Limited effective on 11 October as
          disclosed in note 26 (the "KMCL Disposal"), following which the Company became an
          AIM Rule 15 cash shell. Given the Company's limited available cash resources post the
          KMCL Disposal and considering the Company's status as a cash shell, the Board will
          need to undertake a Reverse Takeover transaction ("RTO") as envisaged under the AIM
          Rules which will coincide with a substantial fundraise to provide the Company with
          sufficient working capital to meet its overhead and project development commitments
          post RTO.
  •   Following from the losses incurred in the current financial period, coupled with the net
      current liability position the Group finds itself in as at December 2023, these conditions,
      together with those mentioned above are considered to indicate that a material uncertainty
      exists which may cast significant doubt on the Group's ability to continue as a going
      concern.
  •   This is largely attributable to the short-term liquidity position the Group finds itself in as a
      result of the significant capital required to meet its obligations that exceeds cash contributed
      to the Group by the capital contributors. The Directors have evaluated the Group's liquidity
      requirements to confirm whether the Group has adequate cash resources to continue as a
      going concern for the foreseeable future, taking into account the net current liability position,
      and consequently prepared a cash flow forecast covering a period of 12 months from the
       date of approval of these financial statements, concluding that the Group would be able to
       continue its operations as a going concern.
   •   In response to the net current liability position, to address future cash flow requirements,
       detailed liquidity improvement initiatives have been identified and are being pursued, with
       their implementation regularly monitored in order to ensure the Group is able to alleviate
       the liquidity constraints in the foreseeable future. Therefore, the ability of the Group to
       continue as a going concern is dependent on the successful implementation or conclusion of
       the below noted matters in order to address the liquidity risk the Group faces on an ongoing
       basis:
       § Successful conclusion of funding initiatives of the Group in order to keep the Company
           in good standing until the successful completion of a reverse takeover transaction as the
           Company pursues its objective to acquire a new portfolio of assets; and
       § Successful completion of a reverse takeover transaction as required under AIM Rule 15
           given that the Company became a cash shell on 11 October 2024 with the disposal of its
           subsidiary, Kibo Mining (Cyprus) Limited.
   •   Further to the above, on 3 December 2024 the Company announced that it had secured a
       loan facility for up to £500,000 from Aria Capital Management Limited ("Aria") (the "Aria
       Facility"). The Company has received the first payment totalling £122,585 under the Aria
       Facility. The purpose of the Aria Facility is to provide the Company with working capital
       until it is able to identify and complete a reverse takeover transaction. Aria has also provided
       the Company with written confirmation, which is effective for a period until 31 December
       2025, that it will support the Company in its capacity as lender under the Aria Facility and
       advisor to the Company, as follows:
       § Assist the Company in the timely sourcing and procurement of an appropriate project
           portfolio as part a reverse takeover transaction;
       § Assist the Company to raise appropriate funding to the Company in good standing until
           completion of a reverse takeover transaction to enable the Company to continue as a
           going concern for the foreseeable future; and
       § Aria will not recall or demand cash repayment of the Aria Facility provided to the
           Company, except insofar as the funds of the Company permit repayment and that such
           repayment will not adversely affect the ability of the Company to carry on its business
           operations as a going concern.
   •   In addition to the Aria Facility, should the completion of a Reverse Takeover run into the
       second half of 2025, the Company will also be reliant, as noted above, on additional funds
       being raised either from Aria or, if not, third parties which could include equity placings as
       the Company has relied upon in the past.
   •   As the Board is confident it would be able to successfully implement the above matters, it
       has adopted the going concern basis of accounting in preparing the consolidated financial
       statements.

This short-form announcement is the responsibility of the directors and is only a summary of the
information in the full announcement and does not contain full or complete details.

Any investment decision should be based on the full announcement published on SENS and the issuers
website as a whole.

A copy of the 2023 audited results is available from the Company's website at www.kibo.energy and on
the JSE website at: https://senspdf.jse.co.za/documents/2024/jse/isse/kbo/kibo311223.pdf

This announcement contains inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU)
no. 596/2014 ("MAR")

For further information please visit www.kibo.energy or contact:

 Cobus van der Merwe   info@kibo.energy   Kibo Energy PLC                    Chief Executive Officer
 James Biddle          +44 207 628 3396   Beaumont Cornish Limited           Nominated Adviser
 Roland Cornish
 Claire Noyce         +44 20 3764 2341   Hybridan LLP                            Joint Broker
 James Sheehan        +44 20 7048 9400   Global Investment Strategy UK Limited   Joint Broker

Beaumont Cornish Limited ('Beaumont Cornish') is the Company's Nominated Adviser and is
authorised and regulated by the FCA. Beaumont Cornish's responsibilities as the Company's Nominated
Adviser, including a responsibility to advise and guide the Company on its responsibilities under the
AIM Rules for Companies and AIM Rules for Nominated Advisers, are owed solely to the London Stock
Exchange. Beaumont Cornish is not acting for and will not be responsible to any other persons for
providing protections afforded to customers of Beaumont Cornish nor for advising them in relation to
the proposed arrangements described in this announcement or any matter referred to in it.

Johannesburg
23 December 2024
Corporate and Designated Adviser
River Group

Date: 23-12-2024 02:00:00
Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE'). 
The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of
 the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, 
indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on,
 information disseminated through SENS.