PALMARIS Capital, the Aim-quoted company whose sole investment is a stake in Scottish Resources Group (SRG), yesterday warned that market conditions for Scotland’s biggest miner remain difficult and that no buyer had emerged for the business.
Palmaris, which holds 16.1 per cent of the Clackmannanshire-based firm behind Scottish Coal, yesterday provided further details on plans announced last week to leave Aim to cut costs.
The company, which has been looking to sell SRG for some time, said the price of coal had fallen significantly since last autumn.
“It therefore seems that market conditions may remain difficult for SRG for the foreseeable future, and that the company may not realise its investment for some time,” it said in a statement.
The company said it had received no dividend from its investment in SRG and that the operating costs of Palmaris have had to be met from its own, existing cash resources.
“These resources are finite and the company has already had to borrow funds from a major shareholder to meet its operating costs,” it said.
Palmaris said that if a buyer did come forward, it still intended to wind up the company and distribute any remaining cash to shareholders.
SRG abandoned its own plans for a £200 million-plus flotation in 2010.
On Monday, ATH Resources, which is Scotland’s second largest open cast miner after SRG, said that it needed a restructuring to continue operating and may put itself up for sale.
