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Halving its Asia Energy holding helped mining investment group Cambrian Mining raise interim profits from £2.4 million to £27 million.

Entrepreneurial Cambrian, whose interests span coal, gold, iron ore and other minerals around the world, says earnings reached 29.6p a share in the six months to December, which also brought the payment of a maiden interim dividend of 1.5p. Selling 13.5 per cent of Bangladeshi coal play Asia Energy brought in £15.5 million against a book value of £589,000.

Cambrian, which also retains a $1-a-tonne royalty over Asia's Phulbari coal project, has sold various coal company stakes to a fellow AIM-quoted company, Coal International, where it has a 36 per cent holding. Since the sale of another slug of Asia Energy last month, Cambrian claims its combined quoted investments on 14 February stood at £127 million, against an AIM value £96 million with its shares at 124p, up 14.75p today.

They have speculative possibilities, but could be volatile.