News Archive

10 October 2006

Trading Update

ATH Resources plc (AIM:ATH.L), one of the UK’s largest coal producers , today issues the following update on trading ahead of its Preliminary Results for the year ended 1 October 2006 which will be announced on Wednesday 6 December 2006.

Trading has been generally in line with Directors’ expectations for the year, and operations have performed well throughout the period. Coal extraction continued in line with plan at our Skares Road and Grievehill mines whilst, with the exhaustion of the reserve, it ceased at Garleffan in June 2006. Opencast coal supplied to customers in the year ended 1 October 2006 was 1.7 million tonnes (year to 2 October 2005 - 1.5 million tonnes).

Coaling has also commenced at the Glenmuckloch mine, however product is currently being stockpiled awaiting the completion of the construction of a 12.2km conveyor to our rail loading facility at Crowbandsgate. The construction of this conveyor is a major engineering project and is progressing well against a demanding build programme. It is anticipated to become operational during the second half of November 2006 with coal being dispatched to customers prior to Christmas.

Operations have also recently started at the Laigh Glenmuir mine and coaling is expected to commence during November 2006. Coal from this site will also be transported to Crowbandsgate via a second conveyor which is anticipated to be operational early in the New Year.

The acquisition of A Ogden & Sons Limited land regeneration business in May 2006 has been successfully integrated into the Group and is meeting the Board’s expectations. We are pursuing a number of new projects for the Ogden business and hope to make progress on these in the coming year.

Gas oil is a major element of the Group’s cost profile and with continued high oil costs, buying prices have generally been above the Group’s internal budget. However, through a combination of the judicious use of hedging instruments, management focus on usage and the achievement of some other cost savings, the Group has managed to complete the year without any negative impact to its trading performance.

Profit before tax is anticipated to be in line with market expectations and the Directors are confident of maintaining the dividend policy for the final dividend. This will be payable on 12 January 2007 to shareholders on the register on 22 December 2006.

The Group continues to develop a number of new sites as well as extensions to our existing portfolio in Scotland and France. Planning permission was received on 6 October 2006, for an extension to Grievehill which will permit further reserves* of 370,000 tonnes. The Group continues to progress the Muir Dean application, and remains confident that this will ultimately be permitted.

In addition to these developments we are preparing two planning applications for schemes with a combined reserve* in excess of two million tonnes and anticipate that both applications will be submitted in the next six months.

Progress in France has been slow and we continue to await a decision from the French State on the Commentry mining permit application. This is now anticipated in early 2007.

As at 1 October 2006, the Group had some 7.9 million tonnes of proven and probable reserves*.

The Directors believe that the outlook for 2006/07 remains good. The Group’s current strategy of growth through complementary acquisitions and organic development will ensure that the business continues to develop successfully.

- Ends -

* All reserve estimates have been drawn up / estimated in accordance with IMMM standards

For further information:
ATH Resources
Tom Allchurch, Chief Executive	Tel: +44 (0) 1302 760 462
tom.allchurch@ath.co.uk
Media enquiries:
Abchurch
Sarah Hollins / Sarah Hollins	Tel: +44 (0) 113 203 1341
sarah.hollins@abchurch-group.com	www.abchurch-group.com

Notes to Editors:

ATH Resources is an AIM-listed operator of opencast coal mines in the UK with its current four operational mines, Skares Road, Grievehill Glenmuckloch and Laigh Glenmuir, located near New Cumnock, East Ayrshire in Scotland. The Group is currently the third largest producer of coal in the UK producing approximately 1.7 million tonnes per annum. Coal was used to generate 34 per cent of the UK’s electricity in 2005 and the Company holds coal supply contracts with three of the UK’s main electricity generating companies.

The management team has been in place since 1998. It acquired the rights to operate (and subsequently acquire) the Skares Road mine with support from The Alchemy Plan and Bank of Scotland. Following ATH Resources’ incorporation in October 2003, and backed by a follow on investment from The Alchemy Plan, the Company acquired the Garleffan mine in November 2003.

In June 2005 the Group acquired two new opencast sites, Grievehill and Glenmuckloch in Scotland for £18 million using the £16.8 million raised by way of an Open Offer on the basis of one New Ordinary Share for every three Existing Ordinary Shares. The acquisition increased the Group’s reserve base by 160% and provided longer term stability to the business.

In addition to its operating mines, the Group is also developing a number of other coal mining projects in Scotland and two through its French subsidiary, SRMMC including a series of six existing coal concessions in south-central France, covering an area of 36km, two with an estimated resource of approximately 4.5 million tonnes of recoverable coal.

In May 2006 the Group acquired Doncaster-based A Ogden & Sons Limited a successful coal recovery, land remediation and regeneration business with a particular focus on colliery spoil heap reclamation projects. ATH paid net £9.5 million for the business. The acquisition, which was earnings enhancing, allowed ATH to build on its skills as a regenerator of land, whilst developing strong relationships with key English planning authorities.

ATH Resources listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange in June 2004 under the symbol ATH.L.

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