Circle Oil PLC Financial Update (9019S)

TIDMCOP

RNS Number : 9019S

Circle Oil PLC

29 December 2016

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN, INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF THAT JURISDICTION.

29 December 2016

CIRCLE OIL PLC

("Circle" or the "Company")

Financial Update

Further to the announcement of 30 September 2016, in which Circle Oil plc (AIM:COP), the international oil and gas exploration, development and production company, announced that the most recent waiver in relation to the suspension of the December 2015 and June 2016 redetermination and any repayments due under its Reserve Based Lending facility was due to expire, the Company is pleased to announce that International Finance Corporation ("IFC"), a member of the World Bank Group and other syndicate members have agreed to re-instate the waiver until 26 January 2017.

In addition to the waiver noted above, in light of the current financial position of the Company, the IFC and other syndicate members have again agreed to defer interest payments due in July and November 2016 until 26 January 2017.

IFC and a syndicate member have also agreed to provide additional stand-by funding to finance the Strategic Review process through to conclusion. The additional stand-by funding has been agreed pursuant to an interim funding deed between IFC, the Company and the Company's subsidiaries and shall be used for the purposes of the Strategic Review process. Any advances will be repayable by 31 January 2017. In the event the Company draws down on the facility any payments received from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) during the period to 31 January 2017 shall be applied to reduce the amount drawn. The effective interest rate for the standby funding is 15% per annum plus three-month LIBOR.

The Company's financial position remains under significant pressure. As a result of the deferral of the IFC interest payment and the standby funding, the Company is in a position to discharge its financial obligations during the period of the waiver, pending resolution of the lender redemption notice received from Circle Link S.ar.L ("Circle Link"). The Company is continuing to discuss its position with Circle Link.

The Strategic Review process remains ongoing. The Directors continue to expect there will be no value attributed to Circle equity holders as a result of the Strategic Review process.

As noted in the announcement of 30 September 2016, the Company's shares were suspended from trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") on 29 June 2016. In the event the suspension is not lifted, the Company's listing on AIM will be cancelled after six months of suspension, as set out in the AIM Rules for Companies. The Company therefore expect that its listing on AIM will be cancelled with effect from 30 December 2016.

For further information contact:

Circle Oil plc ([phone])

Mitch Flegg, CEO

Investec ([phone])

Chris Sim

George Price

James Rudd

Jonathan Wynn

Murray ([phone])

Joe Heron

Pat Walsh

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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December 29, 2016 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)