IoG hopes to exploit more from its North Sea assets
(Picture: AFP/Getty Images)Victims of the London Capital & Finance scandal today had a rare piece of good news as it emerged that the North Sea gas investment part of their cash backed looks more promising than thought.
Independent Oil & Gas was the one investment made by LCF which could turn good, giving them the prospect of getting back some of the £236 million they invested.
Today the company published a technical update of two of its North Sea licence prospects following thorough 3D seismic testing.
The conclusion is that there appears to be more gas there than previously thought, and hopes of new prospects and leads in the area.
Broker Finncap said the company’s shares, currently 17p a share, could be worth 50p, with the first gas from the project’s Phase I “fast approaching”.
Shares in IoG gained 0.5p - or 3% - to 17.5p. They started the year at 13p. The company’s stock market value is currently £85 million.
LCF issued minibonds to the public who invested on the understanding that their money would be put into lots of small and medium sized companies. In fact, it went into a handful of firms, mostly with links to LCF associates.
The Serious Fraud Office is investigating.
Administrators of the collapsed firm have stated they hope to recoup 20-25% of investors’ funds, which will nearly all derive from the IoG investment.
Some victims
have been getting compensation payments from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
The administrators have previously reported that they found a number of “highly suspicious transactions” involving a “small group of connected people” which led to large sums of investors’ money ending up in their “personal possession or control.”
A quarter of investors’ funds were paid straight to LCF’s marketing company, Surge.
