Tangiers flies after LSE suspension ends

Shares in AIM-listed Tangiers Petroleum resumed trading on Monday, but its Australian shares will remain suspended until its accounts for 2013 are released.

The oil explorer's London shares were suspended in February following the resignation of chairman Eve Howell and non-executive Max de Vietri, who had lost the support of several major shareholders.

This meant there were not enough board members to issue or sign the financial report but it has now appointed ex-FAR Limited founder Michael Evans as its non-executive chairman, together with Dr Stephen Staley as a new non-executive director.

Chartered accountant Evans has been welcomed by investors as a hard hitter accustomed to operating at the highest level. He founded oil and gas explorer FAR in 1995 and ran it until 2012, building an international portfolio across Africa, North America, China and Australia.

Staley has over 30 years' experience in the industry, including blue chips BP and Conoco, and AIM-listed Fastnet Oil & Gas and Independent Resources.

Tangiers also reported its 2013 results. Its net loss widened to $6.9 million (£4.12 million), from a $4.8 million loss in 2012, as administrative expenses rose and it wrote off over $2 million of exploration spending. It didn't earn any operational revenues in the year, though it booked income of $505,937 from interest revenue and gains on foreign exchange.

Tangiers shares were up 27.3% at 12.57p by noon, the biggest gain on AIM.

Investor view

On the Interactive Investor discussion boards, investors anxiously awaited the open of the ASX market late this afternoon. 'Vx1' said: "London dealers will have to cover if they are short so expect further gains... I always said we would end up with a heavy hitter running this set up. Now expect heavy buying to come into play as the big boys add to positions."

Others however said that rejecting the earlier merger with Jacka Resources had been foolish. The proposed takeover was an all share offer of 0.468 Tangiers shares for every share in Jacka Resources, with Howell to remain as chairman of Tangiers and Jacka chief executive Bob Cassie becoming managing director of the enlarged company.

The combination of Tangiers and Jacka would have created a £37 million market cap, African-focused explorer with assets in Morocco, Tunisia, Nigeria, Somaliland and Australia.