These full-year figures don't tell investors much about junior gold explorer Hummingbird Resources (HUM). In fact, the only really significant takeway from the results is the healthy net cash pile - that's set to be boosted by another $5m (£3.2m) royalty payment from Anglo Pacific (APF).
Instead, investors should focus on the price of gold. Hummingbird's share price collapsed from 122p in October to as low as 19p earlier this summer as the gold price plunged from nearly $1,800 an ounce to $1,200 an ounce. This happened despite Hummingbird completing a substantial amount of exploration and infill drilling in Liberia, releasing a positive preliminary economic assessment (PEA) study for its flagship Dugbe 1 gold project, and raising a large amount of money through non-dilutive financings.
Encouragingly, the gold price has rebounded to over $1,400 an ounce in the past two months - Hummingbird's share price has nearly doubled alongside it. Should gold keep climbing, we'd expect sentiment to continue supporting the shares of risky junior explorers. This is especially the case with Hummingbird as it's one of the few explorers listed on Aim that's fully funded until the release of a definitive feasibility study (DFS) for Dugbe 1, expected in the third-quarter of 2014.
HUMMINGBIRD RESOURCES (HUM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 47p | MARKET VALUE: | £27m | |
| TOUCH: | 45-47p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 122p | LOW: 19p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 87¢* | NET CASH: | $13.7m | |
| Year to 31 May | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2010 | nil | -1.29 | -4.60 | nil |
| 2011 | nil | -2.61 | -5.79 | nil |
| 2012 | nil | -4.16 | -7.78 | nil |
| 2013 | nil | -3.37 | -6.13 | nil |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
*Includes intangible assets of $47m, or 82¢ a share £1=$1.56 | ||||
