As we move into March, it’s interesting to note that Anglo Pacific Group plc (LON:APF) is still trading at close to the three-year 164p high it hit in January.
The current price is 147p, still higher than any level the company has traded at since 2015, barring the slight retreat since January. But it may be that that weakness too, has bottomed out.
Not that you’d know it from reading the front pages of the Western media, but coal is on the up as an investment.
Now Anglo Pacific isn’t totally reliant on coal for its income – in fact, it has a fairly diverse royalty portfolio. But coal does constitute a large part of the company’s cash flow, and the share price rise has gone hand-in-hand with strong coal prices. And this is no accident.
Julian Treger, Anglo Pacific’s chief executive, is an experienced investment professional and a former fund manager.
He knows markets as well as anyone, and knows that the key to success is to mix an understanding of what’s happened in the past with a clear assessment of what’s going to happen in the future.
So, although taking a position in coal may not be as trendy at the moment in commodities markets as taking on one in lithium or cobalt, to Treger it still makes a lot of sense.
Mining, he argues, is a perfect way for investors to mix the old with the new.
