Ann: Half Year Accounts, page-2

Keep in mind the report is largely ' in the rear view mirror ' type stuff. So its more about the outlook and how the numbers in the accounts speak for the subsequent quarter and quarters which will proceed it.

So , we must at the same time weigh the write downs to stock which have been taken up in the 6 months account ahead of the release to sales in the First quarter 2024.

We also have the expected hit on Salaries and Admin expenses which were NOT accrued at 31st December for the various terminations of the executives which some had employment agreements for severance pay of 6 months. I'm referring to Guy and Cindy and there are probably more with lessor termination notice periods.

I expect at least a minimum extra amount of about $2 million in the March quarter for these redundancies.

We also have Capex commitments of another $36.6 million at 31st December on top of $90 odd million in current liabilities as against around $75 million ( net of cash ) current assets.

So I guess we're not out of the woods quite yet if you consider the $15 million rough deficit in current liabilities to current assets converted ...with inventories at say US$900 when further consideration is given to the early 2024 ( first quarter ) further provisional pricing adjustments.

So based solely on these snap shot ...rear view as at 31st December numbers , we could be looking at a net hit on cash balances of around $53 million by the time the first quarter numbers are put out.

So I am not convinced that the shorts are going to let go quite as easily as some suggest. Certainly there are some positive takeaways from the half year accounts , but increased volatility could be expected until we see more.

But certainly the narrative looks supportive for a leveraged upswing in the SP and so too does the comprehensive preparation of these half year numbers.

So I'm quietly confident as we move into next week and the delivery of the Ontario and Quebec official 2024 /2025 budgets.

And as pretty much predicted , we did hold our own on expected cash balance to end of December so that's good so long as the can hasn't just been kicked down the road by accruals and deferrals , write-downs and post balance date additional expenditures vis a vis redundancies and capex committments etc...