Kibo Energy PLC (LON:KIBO) has reported a significantly reduced first-half operating loss and said the company has made good progress in expanding its portfolio and had solidified its position in the African energy market.
The Africa-focused energy group on Friday said that during the six months to the end of June, it had expanded its energy project footprint outside of Tanzania with the acquisition of the Mabesekwa Coal Independent Power Project in Botswana and a joint venture on the Benga Independent Power Project in Mozambique. The company added that it was confident that the Tanzanian government would support its Mbeya Coal to Power Project.
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The AIM-listed firm said its first-half operating losses fell to £1.33mln from £2.37mln a year earlier. It added that it had raised £2.25mln through placings and share issues to settle outstanding balances on its forward payment facility, which will provide stable funding for the on-going work on existing projects and costs associated with its new acquisitions during the first half of 2018.
The company, which recently changed its name from Kibo Mining to Kibo Energy to reflect its sole focus on energy projects, also said it had cut its loss per share by 58% year-on-year and reduced its administrative costs by 46.5% during the period.
"This has been a very active period for the company, during which we have expanded our portfolio, signed additional strategic agreements with international blue chips and solidified our position in the African energy market," said Kibo's chairman Christian Schaffalitzky.
"There is a significant and expanding opportunity in the African energy sector due to the acute shortage of power. We aim to participate in the solution and now have the Mbeya Coal to Power Project in Tanzania, the Mabesekwa Coal Independent Power Project in Botswana and the Benga Independent Power Project in Mozambique."
Schaffalitzky added that, with the inclusion of its recent agreement with Mast Energy Developments in the UK, Kibo has further expanded its offering and successfully transformed the firm from a multi-commodity exploration company to a diversified energy development company in Africa with a broad-based platform from which to build value.
Kibo Energy's shares were 0.3% down at 4.3p in early afternoon trade.