LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Ascent Resources announced on Wednesday that it has signed an option agreement that could allow a third party to extract lithium and potash from mineral-rich brines in Utah, opening a new potential revenue stream from its US acreage without requiring additional development spending.
For the six months ended 30 September, revenue rose 4% to £18.9m, driven by stronger activity at Falkland Building Services, the construction arm of Falkland Islands Company.

That offset weaker volumes at art logistics specialist Momart, while the Portsmouth Harbour Ferry Company delivered a performance broadly in line with last year.

Its underlying pre-tax loss reduced significantly to £1.4m from £5.9m a year earlier, reflecting the improved divisional performance.

The reported pre-tax loss narrowed to £2.5m from £6.1m.

FIH ended the period with £16.2m in cash, compared with £8.5m last year, shifting to a net cash position before lease liabilities of £16.1m.

The group completed a £22.65m sale-and-leaseback of Momart's Leyton warehouse, delivering a pre-tax profit of £3.4m and enabling the repayment of an £11m mortgage secured against the site.

The deal also funded an £8.8m special dividend, equivalent to 70p per share, paid to shareholders on 31 October.

However, a £4.1m impairment charge was recognised against Momart goodwill and intangible assets following the sale.

Despite the costs, the interim dividend was maintained at 1.25p per share.

Chief executive Stuart Munro said the group was taking steps to address operational issues.

"The last six months has been another challenging period for the croup," he said.

"Whilst it was pleasing to complete the sale and lease back of the Leyton warehousing facilities and return a special dividend to shareholders, there are further challenges ahead.

"However, management teams are now in place in all businesses, action plans are underway and progress is being made."

The company said the Falkland Islands division was expected to remain under pressure for the rest of the year while new management implemented restructuring plans.

Momart was meanwhile continuing to grapple with a difficult market backdrop, although cost savings had already been identified, with the full benefit expected to materialise next year.

At PHFC, the group was targeting new secondary revenue opportunities and maintaining tight control of pricing and costs.

The board said it was still assessing options to enhance shareholder value across all divisions.

At 1049 GMT, shares in FIH Group were down 3.67% at 236p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

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