Energy Fuels Advancing Vanadium Activities; Strengthens Cash Position
Date: Jun 29, 2018
June 28, 2018 (Source) — Energy Fuels Inc. (NYSE American: UUUU; TSX: EFR) (“Energy Fuels” or the “Company”), a leading producer of uranium and vanadium in the United States, is pleased to announce that it recently strengthened its cash position and currently has sufficient existing cash on hand to allow the Company the ability to retire all or a portion of its existing long-term debt and to further advance its long-term and sustainable vanadium production profile.
As previously announced on June 25, 2018, the Company was added to the Russell 3000® Index, following the 2018 Russell indexes reconstitution process that began on May 11, 2018. Since May 11, the Company has experienced relative strength in its stock price and increased trading volume. Due to this special situation, the Company recently increased activity on its existing ‘At-The-Market’ (“ATM”) program to raise equity on favorable terms, near the 52-week high on the Company’s stock, and with minimal dilution to shareholders. As a result, between May 11, 2018 and June 25, 2018, the Company strengthened its cash position by raising a total of $16.0 million through the ATM program, at an average price of $2.08 per share, including $7.8 million on Friday, June 22 at an average price of $2.10 per share.
The Company is evaluating the potential of using this cash to finance vanadium-related activities, particularly with the spot price of vanadium currently above $17 per pound, repay existing long-term debt, and/or maintain a strengthened working capital position.
The Company currently has a secured Wyoming Industrial Development Revenue Bond with an outstanding balance of $9.2 million, annual payments of principal and interest of approximately $4.0 million, and a maturity date of October 15, 2020. The Company also has approximately $16.3 million (Cdn$20.9 million) of unsecured, subordinated convertible debentures with annual interest-only payments of approximately $1.4 million (Cdn$1.8 million), a maturity date of December 31, 2020, and the right of the Company to redeem all or a portion of the debentures after June 30, 2019. The Company is evaluating using a portion of its existing cash balance to pay-off or redeem all or a portion of one or both of these debt components. If this course of action is pursued, the Company would expect to remove significant long-term liabilities from its balance sheet, avoid relatively large interest expenses, and reduce the Company’s overall cash requirements for the next several years.
