New | Mongolia Energy losses widen amid write-down in iron ore project

Half-yearly losses in coal mine developer Mongolia Energy widened to HK$457.8 million for the six months ending in September, up from HK$331.9 million the same period a year earlier, according to a statement with the Hong Kong stock exchange on Thursday.

The company, which had defaulted on the redemption of certain convertible bonds in November last year, said the losses were partly due to a HK$285.7 million impairment of its mining and exploration rights, while the group generated no revenue for the entire period.

Given the crash in iron ore prices, management believes it would be difficult to identify a potential buyer to acquire the iron ore concession in Western Mongolia by October 2015, it said.

In addition, the company said it has four mining concessions. The cash level in the Hong Kong-listed company dropped to HK$44.3 million in September from HK$48.6 million six months ago, while holding HK$4.5 billion in net debts in September, it said.

Market value of the company’s shares dropped more than 80 per cent this year.