Companies: AEN    CBM   

Selling out of Bangladesh-focused Asia Energy before recent troubles has enabled Cambrian Mining to make nearly £40 million pre-tax.

Entrepreneurial Cambrian, steered by Australian chief executive officer John Byrne, with stakes in various mineral operations around the world, increased pre-tax profits 90 per cent to £39.4 million in the year to June thanks to revenue of £48.3 million on the sale of investments. Most of this reflects the two-stage disposal in autumn 2005 and early 2006 of AIM-quoted Cambrian's big stakes in fellow AIM counter Asia Energy.

Cambrian was indeed fortunate to have sold a large block at 645p and the rest at prices several times the 117.5p to which Asia's shares later fell on August 31, when they were suspended, on fears over political opposition to its massive Phulbari open-cast coal project. Bangladesh police shot and killed several demonstrators, but the company insisted the project was still going ahead.

Elsewhere, Cambrian took over associate AGD Mining, put £16 million into promising West Australian iron ore play Aztec Resources, took 22 per cent of Aussie oil shale developer Xtract Energy and bought into Vietnam nickel explorer Asian Mineral Resources. Coal production from Cambrian's associates, Western Canadian Coal and Coal International, reached an annual rate of one million tonnes and the target is to treble that in 2007.

Without the investment sale income, Cambrian would have incurred a loss last year. Byrne says the investments into ore and oil shale 'will enable Cambrian to continue to benefit from the strength in steel-making commodities but also to participate in the increasing demand for energy and alternative energy products'.

Cambrian shares, which surged from their 30p 2003 float price to 225p early last year, were 0.5p down this morning at 131p. They are speculative in the short term.

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