D1 Oils looks at selling its sites

May 22 2008 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

THE FTSE 100 Index recovered some of its lost ground yesterday after the steep fall of almost 3% on Tuesday as investors took flight at the unsettling news that oil had passed the $130 a barrel level.

The share prices of major oil stocks BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG and Cairn Energy all surged higher. News of a £4.9bn rights issue from tobacco giant Imperial Tobacco was also received well.

In the Regional Portfolio, there were corporate announcements from D1 Oils and Northern Bear.

At the annual meeting of D1 Oils, the group announced further details of the restructuring plan which includes the replacement of the finance director Chris Tawney.

He is stepping down to be succeeded by Ben Good, the group strategy director, who was influential in arranging the joint venture with BP to plant Jatropha crops.

The company said that due to the ongoing challenges of competing against US-subsidised imports of biodiesel, it is now not a viable option to continue to use the UK for refining and trading biodiesel and therefore it is exploring the options of selling the sites in Middlesbrough and Bromborough. Instead the group intends to focus its efforts entirely on planting and plant science using the funds recently raised from its shareholders in the share placing. The share price traded lower at 22.25p.

Elsewhere, the share price of Northern Bear was in positive territory, up at 111.5p, after the group reported that full year pre- tax profits had come in at an impressive £2.3m, up from £800,000 in 2007.

Christine Hawdon Christine.hawdon@brewin.co.uk