Fox Marble wins $2.4m temple contract after narrowing losses

Fox Marble on Wednesday confirmed it has received an order for at least $2.4m-worth of Alexandrian white marble from the Swaminarayan Hindu religious order, while also reporting a drop in annual losses.

The religious order have purchased the materials for use in building a temple in Abu Dhabi on land donated by the Royal family of the UAE, with construction on the monument set to commence shortly and the material to be supplied during 2019 and 2020.

The AIM traded company said it has received the first good faith deposit of $0.1m by way of confirmation.

Chris Gilbert, chief executive of Fox Marble, said: "We are privileged to be in partnership with the Swaminarayan religious order who have built over 1000 temples around the world. This temple will be the first such place of worship in the UAE and will be a monument for many generations to come."

Meanwhile, Fox also reported its loss before tax for 2018 came in at €2.3m, an improvement over the €3.4m achieved the year before, as revenue increased by 17% to €1.4m after the company sold 5,059 tonnes of block material, up from 4,641 tonnes in 2017.

Total marble production jumped by 49% to 13,094 tonnes after capital investment of €0.55m in the Prilep Alpha quarry to drive increased levels of production and to support the delivery of material for the Abu Dhabi contract.

Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year stood at €0.4m, down from €0.5m at the same point 12 months earlier.

Fox Marble's shares were up 5.45% at 7.25p at 1312 BST.