ISR Capital still in the red for Q1; in midst of commercialising African rare earth mine

ISR Capital reported a marginally deeper net loss of S$387,426 for its first quarter to March 31, versus a S$370,440 net loss for the year ago period.

Loss per share was 0.01 Singapore cent, the same as a year ago. The investment company's shares closed up 50 per cent, or S$0.001, at S$0.003 on Wednesday.

ISR attributed the loss mainly to the consolidation of financial statements of newly acquired Tantalum Holding (Mauritius) Ltd (THM) and its wholly owned subsidiary Tantalum Rare Earth Malagasy SARLU into its first quarter financial statements.

No dividend was declared, the same as a year ago.

It reported no revenue for the quarter, versus a year-ago revenue of S$166,432, which was interest income earned on debt securities.

While the group had legally completed its acquisition of a 60 per cent stake in THM on Jan 3, 2019, it will hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting to ratify its previous waiver of a condition precedent for a cash flow budget and liquidity plan.

This after the Singapore Exchange's regulatory arm had told ISR Capital to do so before paying for the deal with some 747.3 million new shares.

The group has been working on preparatory planning for carrying out feasibility studies, including pilot production, on-site geological topography and environmental impact assessments. ISR Capital said it is an essential stage for the group to convert its exploration licence into a full mining licence before commercialisation can take place.

It was bullish on rare earth elements, saying that it is used in some of the world's fastest-growing industries including renewable energy, electric vehicles, telecommunications and defence. Moving upstream in the supply chain of these high-tech devices, at least seven key rare earth elements are key ingredients for the components used in the manufacture of electric vehicles, turbines and consumer electronics.