If one was needed, another reminder of the enormous hopes riding on Sirius Minerals (SXX) was duly provided by the market reaction to the company's 2016 figures. The day before their publication, shares in the prospective potash miner closed at 17.7p. And despite what was little more than a re-cap of the past year's highlights, the shares had swelled by more than a fifth within two days.
Was notification of a move to London's main market the cause? Perhaps, especially as a premium listing marks a coming-of-age moment for the Aim success story and promises more attention from index funds and institutional investors. But the move - slated for 28 April - had already been heavily flagged last November, when Sirius launched and completed its $1.2bn (£960m) stage one financing.
What about updates on the operational front? Investors should rightly take comfort that construction is on track, and that site highway work has been progressing ahead of site preparation earthworks next quarter. Despite this early progress, the mine is not expected to open until 2021. On average, analysts expect Sirius to post a pre-tax loss of £15m and a loss per share of 0.2p in 2017 - predictions for losses last year were £21.6m and 0.2p.
SIRIUS MINERALS (SXX) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 21.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £895m | |
| TOUCH: | 21.5-21.75p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 50p | LOW: 14p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 12p* | NET CASH: | £582m† | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | nil | -10.1 | -0.5 | nil |
| 2015 | nil | -10.1 | -0.5 | nil |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2015** | nil | -7.5 | -0.3 | nil |
| 2016 | nil | -23.4 | -0.9 | nil |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
Ex-div: - Payment: - *Includes intangible assets of £150m, or 3.6p a share **Nine months to 31 Dec †Doesn't include £321m loan convertible into equity, nor £82.9m in restricted cash | ||||
