corporate statement 
ath resourcs plc “ath” operates surface coal mines 
and through its recently acquired subsidiary ath ogden 
operates a coal recovery land remediation and 
regeneration business ath is the third largest coal 
producer in the uk and supplies coal to the electricity 
supply industrial and house coal markets
throughout the development mining and reclamation 
process ath focuses on the restoration and rehabilitation 
of the sites and land is returned to various uses including 
agriculture forestry nature conservation and other forms 
of development
ath resources plc became a public company in  
june 2004 when the company was listed on aim  
the company intends to grow organically and will  
pursue suitable complementary acquisitions which 
meet strict pre determined criteria
 ifc corporate statement
  group operations
 01  highlights
 02  chairman’s statement
 04  chief executive’s statement
 08  financial review
 10  board of directors
 12  directors’ report
 14  corporate governance report
 15  remuneration committee report
 17  independent auditors’ report
 18  consolidated proﬁt and loss account
 19  consolidated balance sheet
 20  company balance sheet
 21  consolidated cash ﬂow statement
 22  accounting policies
 24  notes to the ﬁnancial statements
 33  notice of annual general meeting
 35  form of proxy
 ibc  corporate information 
 ibc company diary 2007
annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
aardvark house 
sidings court 
doncaster dn4 5nu
tel  44 01302 760462 
fax  44 01302 760463 
web  wwwathcouk
ath’s commitment to environmental issues is reﬂected in this annual report which 
has been printed on revive silk a recycled paper stock it contains 75 deinked 
post consumer waste and 25 combination mill broke and virgin ﬁbres 
this document was printed by beacon press using their environmental print 
technology which minimises the impact of printing on the environment all energy 
used comes from renewable sources vegetable based inks have been used and 
85 of all waste associated with this production has been recycled the printer is 
a carbon neutral
®
 company 
both the printer and the paper mill are registered to iso 14001 
ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
1coverindd   1 12122006   115040 corporate statement 
ath resources plc “ath” operates surface coal mines 
and through its recently acquired subsidiary ath ogden 
operates a coal recovery land remediation and 
regeneration business ath is the third largest coal 
producer in the uk and supplies coal to the electricity 
supply industrial and house coal markets
throughout the development mining and reclamation 
process ath focuses on the restoration and rehabilitation 
of the sites and land is returned to various uses including 
agriculture forestry nature conservation and other forms 
of development
ath resources plc became a public company in  
june 2004 when the company was listed on aim  
the company intends to grow organically and will  
pursue suitable complementary acquisitions which 
meet strict pre determined criteria
 ifc corporate statement
  group operations
 01  highlights
 02  chairman’s statement
 04  chief executive’s statement
 08  financial review
 10  board of directors
 12  directors’ report
 14  corporate governance report
 15  remuneration committee report
 17  independent auditors’ report
 18  consolidated proﬁt and loss account
 19  consolidated balance sheet
 20  company balance sheet
 21  consolidated cash ﬂow statement
 22  accounting policies
 24  notes to the ﬁnancial statements
 33  notice of annual general meeting
 35  form of proxy
 ibc  corporate information 
 ibc company diary 2007
annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
aardvark house 
sidings court 
doncaster dn4 5nu
tel  44 01302 760462 
fax  44 01302 760463 
web  wwwathcouk
ath’s commitment to environmental issues is reﬂected in this annual report which 
has been printed on revive silk a recycled paper stock it contains 75 deinked 
post consumer waste and 25 combination mill broke and virgin ﬁbres 
this document was printed by beacon press using their environmental print 
technology which minimises the impact of printing on the environment all energy 
used comes from renewable sources vegetable based inks have been used and 
85 of all waste associated with this production has been recycled the printer is 
a carbon neutral
®
 company 
both the printer and the paper mill are registered to iso 14001 
ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
1coverindd   1 12122006   115040 group operations
head ofﬁce
location doncaster
the group’s head office is located in a 
new office building close to the town centre 
in doncaster being only one and a half hours 
from london by train doncaster is an ideal 
base from which to administer the group 
whilst enabling regular contact with our 
major power station customers who are 
located in yorkshire and nottinghamshire as 
well as being able to conveniently meet with 
our other stakeholders based in london
garleffan 
location new cumnock east ayrshire 
garleffan was acquired as an operational site 
in november 2003 and required a turnaround 
in the site design and plant fleet this was 
achieved during 2004 and the site continued 
in production until june 2006 when it entered 
restoration the award winning restoration 
plan will provide a habitat to attract 
peregrine falcons 
grievehill 
location adjacent garleffan
the grievehill site was acquired together  
with glenmuckloch from scottish coal as  
a fully permitted site in 2005 the site lies 
adjacent to the garleffan site and utilises  
the infrastructure already established for 
processing and transporting coal to market  
via the group’s rail head at crowbandsgate
the site entered production in september  
2005 for 24 months and will produce  
18 million tonnes
glenmuckloch
 location 5 miles east of new cumnock 
east ayrshire
glenmuckloch was acquired in june 2005 
along with the grievehill site from scottish 
coal grievehill is a fully permitted site and 
entered production in 2006 with a four and a 
half year production life there are some 
32 million tonnes of coal reserves at 
glenmuckloch which will be transported to 
crowbandsgate via a 12km conveyor 
laigh glenmuir
location 1 mile north of garleffan
this site which was granted planning 
permission in october 2005 contains 
some 05 million tonnes of coal which will 
be transported to market via the garleffan 
site the site entered production in 2006 
for two and a half years 
muir dean 
location cross gates fife
the muir dean site which is subject to an 
appeal to the scottish executive following 
the unreasonable refusal of the planning 
application lies in some 180 hectares 
of mixed farming and woodland the 
proposed site will produce some 23 million 
tonnes of coal over four and a half years with 
production due to commence in 2007
crowbandsgate
location new cumnock
the group’s railhead at crowbandsgate 
is used to dispatch coal to our power station 
customers the railhead can handle up 
to 30 trains per week each train can carry 
some 1400 tonnes of coal in 20 wagons 
ath ogden
location grimethorpe
ath ogden is currently undertaking a 
reclamation scheme at the former new park 
springs colliery tip at grimethorpe working 
under contract for renaissance south yorkshire 
yorkshire forward the scheme is part of the 
government’s national coalfields programme 
which assists former coalfield communities 
across england by creating new employment 
homes leisure facilities and public space 
ath ogden are removing coal from the derelict 
colliery spoil heap and restoring the tip to a new 
safe and stable profile which when complete 
will provide public access to areas of open 
space with a diverse range of habitats 
skares road 
location cumnock east ayrshire
the skares road site was the group’s first 
opencast coal site and was acquired as a 
project buyout by the current management  
team in 1998 covering some 600 hectares 
the site has produced over 52 million  
tonnes and is anticipated to continue in 
production until 2008 the site has been 
worked in a number of areas and has been 
progressively restored to mixed grazing  
and woodlands to date some 25000  
trees have been planted 
skares road 
garleffan
laigh glenmuir 
muir dean 
grievehill 
glenmuckloch 
crowbandsgate 
doncaster
head ofﬁce
grimethorpe 
registered ofﬁce
aardvark house
sidings court
doncaster dn4 5nu
company number
4928463
bankers
royal bank of scotland
2 whitehall quay
leeds ls1 4hr
solicitors
eversheds llp
cloth hall court
inﬁrmary street
leeds ls1 2jb
auditors
baker tilly
2 whitehall quay
leeds ls1 4hg
nominated adviser and broker
seymour pierce limited
bucklersbury house
3 queen victoria street
london ec4n 8el
financial pr advisors
abchurch communications limited
100 cannon street
london ec4n 6eu
registrar
capita registrars
the registry
34 beckenham road
beckenham
kent br3 4tu
corporate information
company diary 2007
 8  january 2007 annual general meeting
12  january 2007 final dividend paid
 1  april 2007 half year end
12  june 2007 interim results and dividend declared
27  june 2007 ordinary shares go exdividend
20  july 2007 interim dividend paid
30  september 2007 financial year end
 5  december 2007 preliminary results and dividend declared
21  december 2007 ordinary shares go exdividend
1coverindd   2 12122006   115227 group operations
head ofﬁce
location doncaster
the group’s head office is located in a 
new office building close to the town centre 
in doncaster being only one and a half hours 
from london by train doncaster is an ideal 
base from which to administer the group 
whilst enabling regular contact with our 
major power station customers who are 
located in yorkshire and nottinghamshire as 
well as being able to conveniently meet with 
our other stakeholders based in london
garleffan 
location new cumnock east ayrshire 
garleffan was acquired as an operational site 
in november 2003 and required a turnaround 
in the site design and plant fleet this was 
achieved during 2004 and the site continued 
in production until june 2006 when it entered 
restoration the award winning restoration 
plan will provide a habitat to attract 
peregrine falcons 
grievehill 
location adjacent garleffan
the grievehill site was acquired together  
with glenmuckloch from scottish coal as  
a fully permitted site in 2005 the site lies 
adjacent to the garleffan site and utilises  
the infrastructure already established for 
processing and transporting coal to market  
via the group’s rail head at crowbandsgate
the site entered production in september  
2005 for 24 months and will produce  
18 million tonnes
glenmuckloch
 location 5 miles east of new cumnock 
east ayrshire
glenmuckloch was acquired in june 2005 
along with the grievehill site from scottish 
coal grievehill is a fully permitted site and 
entered production in 2006 with a four and a 
half year production life there are some 
32 million tonnes of coal reserves at 
glenmuckloch which will be transported to 
crowbandsgate via a 12km conveyor 
laigh glenmuir
location 1 mile north of garleffan
this site which was granted planning 
permission in october 2005 contains 
some 05 million tonnes of coal which will 
be transported to market via the garleffan 
site the site entered production in 2006 
for two and a half years 
muir dean 
location cross gates fife
the muir dean site which is subject to an 
appeal to the scottish executive following 
the unreasonable refusal of the planning 
application lies in some 180 hectares 
of mixed farming and woodland the 
proposed site will produce some 23 million 
tonnes of coal over four and a half years with 
production due to commence in 2007
crowbandsgate
location new cumnock
the group’s railhead at crowbandsgate 
is used to dispatch coal to our power station 
customers the railhead can handle up 
to 30 trains per week each train can carry 
some 1400 tonnes of coal in 20 wagons 
ath ogden
location grimethorpe
ath ogden is currently undertaking a 
reclamation scheme at the former new park 
springs colliery tip at grimethorpe working 
under contract for renaissance south yorkshire 
yorkshire forward the scheme is part of the 
government’s national coalfields programme 
which assists former coalfield communities 
across england by creating new employment 
homes leisure facilities and public space 
ath ogden are removing coal from the derelict 
colliery spoil heap and restoring the tip to a new 
safe and stable profile which when complete 
will provide public access to areas of open 
space with a diverse range of habitats 
skares road 
location cumnock east ayrshire
the skares road site was the group’s first 
opencast coal site and was acquired as a 
project buyout by the current management  
team in 1998 covering some 600 hectares 
the site has produced over 52 million  
tonnes and is anticipated to continue in 
production until 2008 the site has been 
worked in a number of areas and has been 
progressively restored to mixed grazing  
and woodlands to date some 25000  
trees have been planted 
skares road 
garleffan
laigh glenmuir 
muir dean 
grievehill 
glenmuckloch 
crowbandsgate 
doncaster
head ofﬁce
grimethorpe 
registered ofﬁce
aardvark house
sidings court
doncaster dn4 5nu
company number
4928463
bankers
royal bank of scotland
2 whitehall quay
leeds ls1 4hr
solicitors
eversheds llp
cloth hall court
inﬁrmary street
leeds ls1 2jb
auditors
baker tilly
2 whitehall quay
leeds ls1 4hg
nominated adviser and broker
seymour pierce limited
bucklersbury house
3 queen victoria street
london ec4n 8el
financial pr advisors
abchurch communications limited
100 cannon street
london ec4n 6eu
registrar
capita registrars
the registry
34 beckenham road
beckenham
kent br3 4tu
corporate information
company diary 2007
 8  january 2007 annual general meeting
12  january 2007 final dividend paid
 1  april 2007 half year end
12  june 2007 interim results and dividend declared
27  june 2007 ordinary shares go exdividend
20  july 2007 interim dividend paid
30  september 2007 financial year end
 5  december 2007 preliminary results and dividend declared
21  december 2007 ordinary shares go exdividend
1coverindd   2 12122006   115227 01 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
october 2005 planning application submitted for a new 
2m tonne site at muir dean 
january 2006 laigh glenmuir site granted planning permission
february 2006 three new appointments made to the 
development team including a new development director
april 2006 two new sales contracts entered into for the 
supply of up to 15m tonnes
may 2006 completed £95m acquisition of a ogden  
sons limited
may 2006 change of planning conditions for grievehill 
submitted for a further 370000 tonnes of coal to be extracted 
from within the current site
august 2006 commencement on site at glenmuckloch
september 2006 commencement on site at laigh glenmuir
september 2006 appointment of group finance  
director announced
september 2006 promotion of alastair black to managing 
director of surface mining business
2004 2005 2006
13 15 18
sales volumes mt
2004 2005 2006
24 27 30
sales price £t
2004 2005 2006
044 1149 1262
eps p
highlights
nb
2004 – 44 week period
2005 – 53 week period
2006 – 52 week period
1ath2006arfindd   1 12122006   115245 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 02
business progress
when ath achieved its listing on aim in 2004 
its stated objectives were to grow the business 
organically and by acquisition
it is therefore pleasing to report that during the 
course of the year the group moved ahead 
signiﬁcantly on both of these fronts
in may 2006 the group completed its ﬁrst major 
acquisition since achieving its listing on aim 
with the purchase of a ogden  sons limited 
the business now renamed ath ogden 
consists of a coal recovery land remediation 
and regeneration business it is believed that 
ath ogden is the only company in the uk that 
can reduce the cost of regenerating former 
colliery sites by extracting coal from the old tips
as such the acquisition complements the existing 
operations of the group whist opening up the 
potential for future surface mining sites and 
reclamation projects in england where ath ogden 
has historically operated
secondly the group’s development team 
which was strengthened during the year with 
the appointment of a new development director 
has driven forwards with a number of planning 
applications the group’s reserves at the year end 
were 79m tonnes 
“ another year of progress in delivering 
sustained growth to our shareholders which 
is reﬂected in an increase in the full year  
dividend of 3”
01  plant maintenance is undertaken by both manufacturer supplied and in house 
ﬁtters within purpose built ﬁtting shops
02  site restoration is undertaken throughout the site’s life and is returned to mixed 
grazing habitat and forestry when complete 
03  coal is loaded onto trains by caterpillar 966 loading shovels a 1400 tonne train 
consisting of 20 wagons is loaded in around 90 minutes
chairman’s statement
01
1ath2006arfindd   2 12122006   115320 03 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
board of directors
there have been a number of changes to 
the board of directors during the past year
firstly mike t od one of the three founding 
directors stood down from the main board due 
to ill health in june 2006 mike was instrumental 
in establishing the original business in 1998 
and has been a driving force behind the 
development of the group since then he will 
continue in a part time role with the group and 
the board is grateful for his contribution over 
the last eight years
as part of refocusing the board the group 
has recruited steven beaumont as group finance 
director steven joins the group from united utilities 
where he was commercial director and will replace 
richard croston who will continue in his role as 
finance director of our trading subsidiaries and 
group company secretary alistair black has been 
promoted to managing director of the surface 
mining business
strategy
the group will continue to develop organically 
and it is pleasing to note that our pipeline of internally 
developed projects is growing month on month 
other opportunities to increase market share will 
be exploited as they arise as the group seeks 
to achieve a leading position in surface mining 
in the uk
the government’s report on the energy review 
“the energy challenge” published on 11 july 2006 
did not produce any great surprises although it did 
for the ﬁrst time acknowledge the role of coal 
in the overall balance required for a sustainable 
energy policy this was in the wake of last winter 
when coal ﬁred generation produced over 50 
of the uk’s electricity the review has also 
established a coal forum at which the difﬁculties 
of the planning system will be discussed
the group believes this is an important step forward 
in recognising the importance that uk produced 
coal has in providing essential energy supplies 
whilst assisting in managing the dependence 
on imported energy in ensuring that the uk 
has a secure supply of energy
for the energy industry and in particular the coal 
sector the group is actively lobbying for changes 
to the planning system so that an emphasis 
on security of supply has to be considered 
in the determination of planning applications 
the group is well set to deliver the results 
our shareholders expect from a mature industry 
and looks forward in 2007 to pursuing our target 
of further sustained growth
david port
nonexecutive chairman
 derek moir
 site manager skares road
 derek joined ath resources as a site engineer in 1998  
 since then he has been promoted ﬁrstly to disposal point  
  manager responsible for the quality control of the coal 
processing and coordinating dispatch of coal to customers  
and more recently to site manager derek is responsible for  
the day to day running of the site 
“ being given the opportunity to develop 
alongside the growth in the company 
has been very rewarding”
02 03
1ath2006arfindd   3 12122006   115408 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 04
operational review
the surface mining business has continued 
to perform in line with expectations
skares road moved into a new area of operation 
in october 2005 which although higher in operational 
stripping ratio yields good quality coal and mitigates 
the overall restoration cost this site which initially 
was to have been a 3m tonne ﬁve year site will 
now end up producing some 6m tonnes worked 
over ten years
the garleffan site ceased production in june 2006 
and has since moved into restoration the site 
will be restored over the coming two years 
to produce a wetland and protected nesting 
ground the restoration plan has won the 
coal authority’s annual environmental award
grievehill was granted an extension of 04m 
tonnes during the year which will keep the site 
in production until september 2007 a further 
10m tonne extension is to be applied for in the 
near future
“ the acquisition of ath ogden has provided 
the group with a suitable complementary 
diversiﬁcation from our core surface mining 
activity and we will endeavour to derive added 
value from this over the coming year” 
04  the former colliery tip at grimethorpe is being processed to recover coal 
whilst at the same time restoring the site to public access park land
05  a team of development engineers are based at the group’s head ofﬁce 
in doncaster they work on all aspects of site identiﬁcation planning and 
design using a 3d cad system
06  coal at glenmuckloch is being stockpiled ahead of the completion of 
the conveyor
chief executive’s statement
04
1ath2006arfindd   4 12122006   115440 05 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
glenmuckloch was opened up successfully during 
the autumn and has been producing coal to plan 
dispatch of coal from the site is awaiting the 
completion of a 12 km conveyor which is to link 
the three sites of glenmuckloch grievehill 
and laigh glenmuir to the group’s railhead 
at crowbandsgate whilst the commencement 
of construction of this conveyor was delayed 
in obtaining the necessary consents the group’s 
performance through the construction phase 
has been outstanding
the conveyor which is in the ﬁnal stages 
of commissioning and beneﬁts from a freight 
facility grant from the scottish executive will 
be the longest over land conveyor in europe 
this investment will deliver a more efﬁcient 
operation in moving coal from the mine to 
disposal point and at the same time reduce 
the impact to the environment by removing  
54500 lorry journeys and saving some 19m 
lorry miles per annum
laigh glenmuir which was granted planning 
permission in january 2006 entered production 
in the autumn and has been successfully 
established ahead of the winter the group 
expects that the site will operate for two and a 
half years with a yield of some 05m tonnes
overall the surface mines have performed 
well during the past twelve months assisted 
by the close monitoring of costs including fuel 
which we successfully hedged and investment 
in new plant to complement the existing ﬂeet
the ath ogden regeneration business has 
been successfully integrated into the group 
the business has been performing ahead 
of expectations at the time of acquisition 
operational technical and administrative 
beneﬁts have been realised including the 
improvement of recovery through the coal 
washing process at the surface mines 
ath ogdens’ expertise in land regeneration 
will be applied to new projects over the next 
few years
development projects
as previously announced the group increased 
the size of the development team during the 
year the team has been focused on pursuing 
a number of projects which are expected to 
increase group reserves year on year in addition 
an extensive exercise has been undertaken during 
the year to “desk top” review prospective sites 
and these are being incorporated into a ﬁve year 
development plan
sites for development by both the surface mining 
and ath ogden businesses are currently being 
evaluated and the group expects to make two 
planning applications for new schemes in the 
next year
planning permission for laigh glenmuir and 
an extension at grievehill were received during 
the year however it was regrettable that the 
planning application submitted for the muir dean 
site was turned down by fife council the decision 
will be the subject of an appeal and the group 
remains conﬁdent of a successful outcome 
given the recommendation from the council 
ofﬁcers and the lack of substance in the 
councillors’ objections
  robert haskell
 project manager head ofﬁce
 robert has worked for the company for over ﬁve years his role  
 in the development department is to ﬁnd evaluate and project  
 manage new sites through the planning process 
“ it’s exciting to see an outline scheme for 
a site that i have identiﬁed to become an 
operating coal mine”
05 06
1ath2006arfindd   5 12122006   115528 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 06
chief executive’s statement continued
development projects continued
progress in developing the group’s reserves 
in france has been slow the commentry 
concession application is presently awaiting 
the minister for energy’s determination in paris 
however it is believed that all of the requirements 
of the application have been met on the bertholene 
concession drilling has been delayed by land 
access issues but it is believed that these will 
be overcome shortly
reserves of recoverable coal proven and 
probable were 79m tonnes as at 1 october 2006 
as detailed in the adjacent table after allowing 
for the extraction of 18m tonnes in the year 
and 05m tonnes which arose from the purchase 
of ath ogden 11m tonnes was generated 
through the granting of planning permissions for 
extensions to existing sites and reengineering 
sites to increase recoverable coal the group’s 
pipeline of projects is expected to see continuing 
replacement of reserves over the coming years 
market
the market for coal has remained buoyant 
during the last twelve months and shows no 
sign of falling due to high international prices 
although the recent weakening of the dollar 
has mitigated the high international prices 
07 07
07  tyre management is closely controlled with predetermined tyre changes in order 
to optimise tyre life
08  delivery of the ﬁrst of two komatsu pc3000 excavators took place in august 2006 
and has been a welcome addition to the muck shifting operation proving to be 
a reliable and capable machine 
09  each site is surveyed weekly to determine the progress made and to measure 
the efﬁciency of the coal recovery process
coal reserves
at 1 october 2006
    at 1 october 2006
    proven  probable  total 
site    tonnes  tonnes  tonnes
skares road   710000  —  710000
grievehill   750000  — 750000
glenmuckloch   3200000  —  3200000
laigh glenmuir   500000  —  500000
muir dean   —  2275000  2275000
total surface mining   5160000  2275000  7435000
ath ogden – grimethorpe   490000  —  490000
total   5650000  2275000  7925000
  the information in this report relating to exploration results mineral resources or mineral reserves is based 
on information compiled by mr peter morgan a full time employee of the company who is a fellow of the 
institute of materials minerals and mining mr morgan has sufﬁcient experience which is relevant to the style 
of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration he has reviewed and consents to the inclusion in 
the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears a glossary of 
terms is available on our website – wwwathcouk
08
1ath2006arfindd   6 12122006   115603 07 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
the long term trends would still indicate a period 
of relatively high prices with more than one third 
of the uk coal burn being supplied from russia 
which is at the top of the price curve
demand for coal in the uk for electricity 
generation has been growing steadily during 
the last ten years from 47m tonnes in 1997 to 
over 52m tonnes in 2005 this has been on the 
back of year on year increases in electricity 
generation coupled with the rapid rise in oil and 
consequently gas prices enabling coal ﬁred 
generation to earn a greater proportion of the 
electricity generation mix at 34 in 2005
however with the decline in deep mined coal 
production over 68 of the uk’s requirements 
are now imported whilst the balancing 32 
was split roughly evenly between deep mined 
and opencast coal in 2005 accordingly there 
is good scope for increasing the group’s share 
of the market
the group has a portfolio of sales contracts 
with the electricity supply industry “esi” which 
are for different periods of time and at the year 
end had cover for 43m tonnes running out to 
march 2010
the group remains conﬁdent in the market for 
coal for the foreseeable future
staff
it was with much regret that mike tod 
tendered his resignation from the board of 
ath resources plc due to ill health although 
he has made a good recovery mike has decided 
to scale back his workload and will continue 
to be employed within the group on a part 
time basis
i would like to pay my personal thanks to mike 
whose help and support was vital in launching 
ath resources in 1998 and making it the 
successful company it is today
staff recruitment and training is vital to the 
success of any company but particularly so 
to one which operates in such a potentially 
dangerous industry over recent years the 
group has invested heavily in staff development 
and we were granted training centre status 
by city and guilds in may 2006 which allows 
the group to train employees to level 2 nvq 
in plant operations ath is the only provider 
of accredited training speciﬁc to the surface 
mining industry
a positive health and safety environment is a priority 
to the group with all accidents being reported to 
the board the group strives to be a leader in 
the sector and to this end has been working in 
conjunction with the health  safety executive 
to measure health and safety performance 
this year has been an extremely busy period for 
the group in which there has been a continued 
strong operational performance and additions to 
the reserve base this has been complemented 
by the successful acquisition of ath ogden i am 
very grateful to all of the staff who have helped 
achieve these goals and the group looks forward 
to building on these successes in 2007
tom allchurch
chief executive
 derek mcmurdo
 site engineer skares road
  derek’s role includes surveying the site to determine the 
amount of work performed each week as well as calculating 
coal recoveries he is also involved in the site design process 
“ all of us are encouraged to work 
as part of a team” 
09
1ath2006arfindd   7 12122006   115639 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 08
summary of ﬁnancial review
turnover £541m 2005 £391m
ebitda £192m 2005 £114m
pbit £86m 2005 £64m
final dividend 789p 2005 756p
total dividend 1125p 2005 1092p
eps 1262p 2005 1134p
the results are presented for the 52 week period 
to 1 october 2006 and are compared against 
a 53 week trading period to 2 october 2005
turnover
t urnover for the year was £541m 2005 £391m 
on sales of 18 million tonnes 2005 15 million 
tonnes with an average price of £30 per tonne 
2005 £27 per tonne 
following the renegotiation of the group’s 
portfolio of esi contracts during 2005 together 
with current market prices the group has seen 
year on year improvements in the average sales 
price this additional margin allows for the 
working of reserves which would historically not 
have been economically viable and accordingly 
the full beneﬁt of this uplift in sales price does 
not ﬂow directly through to an increase in 
operating margin
proﬁt before interest and tax
proﬁt before interest and tax was £86m 
2005 £64m whilst earnings before interest 
tax depreciation and amortisation was £192m 
2005 £114m
whilst the average cost of gas oil during the year 
was above the group’s budgeted level the impact 
upon earnings was mitigated through the targeting 
of fuel efﬁciencies and close monitoring of usage 
subsequent to the year end the price has fallen 
and the group has taken advantage and ﬁxed 
a signiﬁcant proportion of its requirement for the 
coming year 
10  the 12km overland conveyor will link the glenmuckloch grievehill and 
laigh glenmuir sites to the group’s railhead and will be the longest in europe
11  each site has an administration function which looks after all aspects of the site 
from employee welfare to supplier ordering and head ofﬁce reporting 
12  water is closely managed to ensure all suspended soil particles picked up on 
site are removed prior to discharge to the local water courses
financial review
“ the year saw turnover increase by 38 from 
both additional sales volumes up by 20 
and improved average prices up by 11 
with the working of higher ratio areas made 
economically viable by the improved sales 
prices pbit improved by 34”
10
1ath2006arfindd   8 12122006   115708 09 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
interest
interest charges of £10m 2005 £07m were 
incurred in the year of these charges £06m 
2005 £04m were in respect of hire purchase 
agreements £nil 2005 £02m was in respect 
of the unwinding of the discount of the ﬁnal void 
provision which is not a cash ﬂow item and 
the remaining £04m 2005 £01m related to 
bank interest
the group manages its exposure to interest 
rates by acquiring plant on ﬁxed rate hire 
purchase agreements which have an average 
rate of interest of 5 2005 5
tax
the effective rate of tax was 34 2005 34 
compared with a standard rate of tax of 30 
whilst the underlying rate of corporation tax in 
the year was 20 2005 11 the difference 
between the two rates being primarily deferred 
tax arising on the capital expenditure incurred 
in the year and the timing difference between 
the relief being given in the form of capital 
allowances and expenditure deducted as 
depreciation in the proﬁt and loss account
dividends and earnings per share
the board is recommending a ﬁnal dividend 
of 789p per share 2005 756p subject to 
members’ approval at the annual general 
meeting “ agm” payable on 12 january 2007 
to members on the share register as at 
22 december 2006 making a total dividend 
of 1125p per share 2005 1092p an increase 
of 3 under current accounting rules the 
proposed dividend at 1 october 2006 has not 
been accrued in the ﬁnancial statements
earnings per share for the year were 1262p 
2005 1149p and 1245p 2005 1149p 
on a diluted basis
balance sheet
investment in new plant and equipment during 
the year amounted to £219m 2005 £98m and 
included 57 items of new plant these included 
two pc3000 komatsu excavators 15 caterpillar 
777 dump trucks 13 caterpillar 735 coal trucks 
and three caterpillar d9 bulldozers
the acquisition of ath ogden which was 
completed during the year gave rise to goodwill 
of £60m on net consideration after taking into 
account of cash left on the balance sheet 
of £95m goodwill is charged to proﬁt over 
ten years
cash ﬂow
net cash inﬂow from operating activities was 
£176m 2005 £86m net debt amounted to 
£314m 2005 £143m due to the additions to 
the plant ﬂeet which were acquired via ﬁxed rate 
hire purchase agreements
international financial reporting standards 
“ifrs”
the group’s ifrs implementation programme is 
at an early stage as compliance with ifrs is not 
required until the year ending september 2008 
with comparative information for 2007 so at this 
stage it is not possible to say what the impact 
upon earnings will be
however the key areas of potential impact 
identiﬁed so far are noted below
ifrs 2 – share based payments
under this standard which becomes applicable 
in the uk for the year ending september 2007 
the group is required to recognise a cost for 
share based payments share options based 
upon the fair value of the award at the time of 
granting and this cost is recognised over the 
vesting period of the awards the fair value is 
to be measured using an option pricing model
ifrs 3 – business combinations
this standard will require the goodwill arising 
upon consolidation of the group to cease being 
charged to proﬁt instead the goodwill balance 
will be subject to an annual impairment test
steven beaumont
finance director
 colleen mcculloch
 site administrator skares road
  colleen joined the company as site administrator in 2006 
she is responsible for the site ofﬁce at skares road and works 
closely with all of the site personnel as well as with head ofﬁce 
“ i enjoy my role as it is very varied and i have 
contact with people across the whole company”
11 12
1ath2006arfindd   9 12122006   115756 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 10
board of directors
01 david port
nonexecutive chairman
david port qualiﬁed as a chartered management accountant 
whilst with national freight company limited now exel plc 
where he rose to become group chief accountant 
and divisional finance director following three years 
at northern foods plc as finance director of the dairy 
division he joined british fuels limited as finance director 
and rose to chief executive and chairman leading 
the management buyout from british coal during the 
privatisation process and disposing of the business 
proﬁtably in a trade sale in 1997 from 1997 to 2001 
david was executive chairman of sylvan international 
limited a £200m turnover timber business with 
operations in france david is currently chairman 
of petrol express limited nonexecutive director 
of global natural gas limited global natural 
energy plc and leach colour limited david has 
been nonexecutive chairman of the group since 
its establishment in 1998
02 tom allchurch
chief executive
tom allchurch is a graduate mining engineer and 
has spent his entire career in the development and 
operation of opencast coal mines tom initially trained 
as a site engineer with shand mining limited a contractor 
to british coal before joining bayford mining limited 
a smaller private mining company in 1986 in 1991 t om 
joined rackwood colliery company limited as projects 
manager and was responsible for the development 
of a number of uk and french projects including 
skares road tom left rackwood in 1998 leading the 
management team in acquiring the rights to operate 
and subsequently acquire the skares road mine t om 
was chairman of the coal industry trade association 
the confederation of uk coal producers in 2001 
and 2002 from 1998 tom was managing director 
of the group and became chief executive when the 
company listed on aim
03 john hodgson
marketing director
john hodgson commenced his career with the 
national coal board in 1964 as a chemist in the 
scientiﬁc department from where he progressed to 
assistant regional marketing and preparation ofﬁcer 
in 1975 in 1981 john joined burnett  hallamshire 
fuels plc as production director responsible for the 
production and marketing of coal from twelve coal 
washing operations in 1984 john transferred to 
rushcliffe fuels limited and was managing director 
from 1989 to 1993 john joined british fuels in 1993 
as general manager of the international and sourcing 
division responsible for sourcing the entire company’s 
solid fuel requirements john joined the group in 1998 
as its marketing director
04 steven beaumont
finance director
steven beaumont is a chartered accountant having 
previously worked for arthur andersen and deloitte 
haskins and sells steven joined the board in 
october 2006 prior to joining ath he spent the 
majority of his career with united utilities where 
since 2001 he held the senior positions of both 
finance director and then commercial director of 
united utilities’ north west division as commercial 
director he managed over 1000 people responsible 
for the investment delivery programme front line 
network customer service commercial activities 
supply chain legal and business services he was 
group financial controller from 1998 to 2001  
01 02
03 04
1ath2006arfindd   10 12122006   115833 11 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
05 alistair black
operations director
alistair black commenced his training as a site 
engineer with coal contractors limited in 1986 
progressing to site manager of the roughcastle 
north site in 1994 in 1996 alistair joined rackwood 
as regional production manager responsible for two 
opencast and one underground mine in scotland 
alistair joined the group in 1998 as operations 
manager for the skares road mine and became 
operations director in 2000 alistair gained his mba 
from heriot watt university in 1999 he is also the 
health and safety director for the group
06 vaughan williams
nonexecutive director
vaughan williams has a degree in politics from exeter 
university vaughan spent four years at british steel 
from 1968 to 1972 before joining a predecessor 
company of bhp minerals europe limited as coal 
sales manager later promoted to director responsible 
for coal sales in europe cis the middle east and 
africa vaughan then moved to bhp coal australia 
pty limited in 1986 as manager of their marketing 
operations after returning from australia vaughan 
became deputy managing director at bhp minerals 
europe limited in 1988 and subsequently managing 
director in 1990 vaughan then became vice president 
marketing at bhp billiton diamonds inc in 2000 where 
he remained until 2003 he joined the group in 2004
07 ivana ridler
nonexecutive director
ivana ridler is the representative of the alchemy plan 
on the board ivana has been an investment executive 
at alchemy partners since 2001 previously with bear 
stearns in london and new york ivana worked in the 
mergers and acquisitions team she holds a masters 
degree in business administration and economics from 
the university of st gallen switzerland the alchemy plan 
is entitled to appoint a director to the board for as long 
as it retains an interest in 10 or more of the company’s 
issued share capital
08 richard croston
company secretary
richard croston qualiﬁed as a chartered accountant 
in 1992 with price waterhouse and worked in their audit 
department richard had periods of secondment to 
clients including british gas energy centres limited 
and debenhams plc as a financial accountant and 
beverley building society as financial controller 
richard joined the group in 1998 as financial controller 
and has been finance director of the group since 
2000 following the recruitment of steven beaumont 
in october 2006 richard is now the finance director 
of the group’s trading subsidiaries and company 
secretary to the group
05
06
07
08
1ath2006arfindd   11 12122006   115919 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 12
the directors submit their report and the audited ﬁnancial statements of ath resources plc for the year ended 1 october 2006
principal activities
the principal activity of the company is that of a holding company the principal activity of the group is the operation of surface coal mines 
and subsequent sale to uk electricity generators industrial and domestic customers the group operates under the title of ath resources
review of developments and future prospects
the group’s trading performance for the year was in line with directors’ expectations and is discussed in greater detail in the chief executive’s 
statement the acquisition of a ogden  sons limited which was completed on 18 may 2006 has been successfully integrated into the business 
and is performing ahead of expectations at the time of purchase the directors are pleased with the progress made in opening up the glenmuckloch 
and laigh glenmuir sites and of the future trading prospects of the group
statement of directors’ responsibilities
the directors are responsible for preparing the annual report and the ﬁnancial statements in accordance with applicable law and united kingdom 
generally accepted accounting practice company law requires the directors to prepare ﬁnancial statements for each ﬁnancial year which give a true 
and fair view in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice of the state of affairs of the company and the group and 
of the proﬁt or loss of the group for that period in preparing those ﬁnancial statements the directors are required to
 select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently
 make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent 
  state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed subject to any material departures disclosed and explained in the 
ﬁnancial statements and
 prepare the ﬁnancial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the group will continue in business
the directors are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the ﬁnancial position of the 
company and to enable them to ensure that the ﬁnancial statements comply with the requirements of the companies act 1985 they are responsible 
for safeguarding the assets of the group and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities
directors
the directors in ofﬁce during the period under review and their interests in the ordinary shares of the company were
        2006  2005 
        number  number
d c port       279959  338076
t j allchurch       1749181  2112296
m t w tod resigned 23 june 2006       166216  1408312
j k hodgson       514542  621356
r a croston       349947  422595
a black       420106  507316
v m f williams       1866  1866
i ridler       —  —
at 1 october 2006 i ridler had a beneﬁcial interest in 7546059 2005 7546059 ordinary shares of the company through the alchemy investment plan 
coinvestment scheme
substantial shareholdings
the company has been informed that on 1 december 2006 the following shareholders held substantial holdings in the issued ordinary shares 
of the company
        number of  holding 
        ordinary shares  
alchemy partners nominees limited       7546059  19
axa framlington extra income fund       3650000  9
artemis income fund       3649050  9
rathbone income fund       2644999  6
artemis high income fund       1956097  5
t j allchurch       1749181  4
shires income plc       1250000  3
gartmore uk equity income fund       1225014  3
directors’ report
1ath2006arbindd   1 12122006   114916 13 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
statement as to disclosure of information to auditors
the directors who were in ofﬁce on the date of approval of these ﬁnancial statements have conﬁrmed as far as they are aware that there is no relevant 
audit information of which the auditors are unaware each of the directors have conﬁrmed that they have taken all the steps that they ought to have 
taken as directors in order to make themselves aware of any relevant audit information and to establish that it has been communicated to the auditor
key performance indicators
the board monitors the group’s progress and ﬁnancial performance on a regular basis performance is assessed against budget using ﬁnancial 
and nonﬁnancial measures the following are the most signiﬁcant key performance indicators “kpis” used by the group
         2006 2005
sales price – revenue earned per tonne of coal sold £       30 27
cost price – operating cost per tonne of coal sold £       22 20
coal reserves – the volume of coal which is classed as permitted or probable reserves million tonnes   79 81
health and safety – number of reportable accidents number       6 3
environmental incidents – breaches of environmental legislation number      — —
return on capital employed – proﬁt before interest and tax divided by capital employed     14 15
principal risks and uncertainties facing the group
replacement of production
the group’s operations have a ﬁnite life due to the geology of each site and will become exhausted at some point in the future production is replaced 
through the development or acquisition of new sites
exploration and development
the exploration for and development of coal deposits involves signiﬁcant risks which are managed through the combination of careful evaluation experience 
and knowledge not all properties which are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines there can be no guarantee that estimates of quantities 
and qualities made will be realised or that appropriate consents will be granted with all mining operations there is uncertainty and therefore risks 
associated with operating parameters and costs 
general mining and processing risks
the group’s operations are subject to all of the hazards and risks normally encountered in the exploration development and production of coal 
appropriate levels of site investigation are undertaken to minimise the risk but these risks could include unusual and unexpected geological formations 
geotechnical instability ﬂooding and other conditions involved in the extraction of material
volatility of price of coal
the market price of coal is volatile and is affected by numerous factors which are beyond the group’s control these include international supply 
and demand the level of consumer product demand international economic trends currency exchange rate ﬂuctuations the level of interest rates 
the rate of inﬂation the cost of freight global or regional political events and international events as well as a range of other market forces this volatility 
is managed through the entering into of long term ﬁxed price supply agreements with electricity generating companies
environmental issues
the group’s activities and the markets in which it operates are subject to environmental regulation such regulations typically cover a wide variety 
of matters including prevention of waste pollution and protection of the environment the risk is managed by daily inspections of all operations with 
a potential to cause environmental breaches and by careful design of the operations to mitigate any potential risk
health and safety
the group’s activities are and will continue to be subject to health and safety standards and regulations failure to comply with such requirements may 
result in ﬁnes penalties andor litigation risks assessments are carried out by management as well as retaining the services of external risk consultants 
to identify any potential risks and ensure safe methods of working
financial instruments
details relating to ﬁnancial instruments are given in the corporate governance report on page 14
payment policy
it is the group’s policy to pay suppliers in accordance with agreed terms provided the supplier has also complied with agreed terms and conditions 
at 1 october 2006 the trade creditors of the group represented 50 days 2005 51 days of purchases
auditors
a resolution to reappoint baker tilly as auditors will be proposed at the agm
by order of the board
r a croston
secretary
5 december 2006
1ath2006arbindd   2 12122006   114917 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 14
introduction
although the rules of aim do not require the company to comply with the combined code on corporate governance “the code” the company fully 
supports the principles set out in the code and will attempt to comply wherever possible given both the size and resources available to the company 
details are provided below of how the company applies the code
the board
the board of directors comprises ﬁve executive directors two independent nonexecutive directors one of whom is the chairman and an 
alchemy plan nominated nonexecutive director
the board generally meets each month and receives a board pack comprising individual reports from each of the executive directors together with 
any other material deemed necessary for the board to discharge its duties it is the board’s responsibility for formulating reviewing and approving 
the group’s strategy budgets major items of expenditure and acquisitions
during the year to 1 october 2006 the board met a total of ten times
board committees
the board has established three committees audit remuneration and nominations all having written terms of delegated responsibilities
audit committee
the audit committee comprises the three nonexecutive directors and is scheduled to meet twice a year it is the audit committee’s role to provide 
formal and transparent arrangements for considering how to apply the ﬁnancial reporting and internal control requirements of the code whilst maintaining 
an appropriate relationship with the independent auditors of the group in order to comply with the requirement of the code that at least one member 
has relevant ﬁnancial experience the chairman of the board sits on the audit committee
during the year to 1 october 2006 the audit committee met on two occasions
remuneration committee
the remuneration committee comprises the three nonexecutive directors and the chief executive and meets at least once a year normally in june 
it is the remuneration committee’s role to establish a formal and transparent policy on executive remuneration and to set remuneration packages for 
individual directors
during the year to 1 october 2006 the remuneration committee met on three occasions
nominations committee
the nominations committee comprises the three nonexecutive directors and the chief executive and meets as required to consider and make 
recommendations on the appointment of directors to the board
shareholder relations
the company meets with its institutional shareholders and analysts as appropriate and encourages communication with private shareholders via the 
agm in addition the company uses the annual report and accounts interim statement and web site wwwathcouk to provide further information 
to shareholders
the board considers vaughan williams to be the senior independent director
internal control and risk management
the board is responsible for the system of internal control and for reviewing its effectiveness such systems are designed to manage rather than 
eliminate risks and can provide only reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss each year on behalf of the board 
the audit committee reviews the effectiveness of these systems this is achieved primarily by considering the risks potentially affecting the group and 
discussions with the external auditors
the group does not currently have an internal audit function due to the small size of the administrative function which amounts to six people and the 
high level of director review and authorisation of transactions
a comprehensive budgeting process is completed once a year and is reviewed and approved by the board the group’s results as compared against 
budget are reported to the board on a monthly basis and discussed in detail at each meeting of the board
the group maintains appropriate insurance cover in respect of legal actions against the directors as well as against material loss or claims against the 
group and reviews the adequacy of the cover regularly
financial instruments
currency risks
the group does not have any exposure to currency risk as all of the group’s business is conducted within the uk
interest rate risk
the group uses ﬁxed rate hire purchase agreements in order to hedge its interest rate risk
price risk
the group uses a mixture of short term and ﬁxed price long term contracts with suppliers and customers to manage its exposure to variation 
in market prices
credit risk
the group trades predominantly with long standing customers the nature of these relationships assist management in controlling its credit risk in 
addition to the normal credit management in addition the group carries credit insurance against material loss from the failure of a customer to pay
liquidity
management control and monitor the group’s cash ﬂow on a regular basis including forecasting future cash ﬂows
corporate governance report
1ath2006arbindd   3 12122006   114917 15 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
introduction
companies trading on aim are not required to provide a formal remuneration report however in line with current best practice this report provides 
information to enable a greater level of understanding as to how directors’ remuneration is determined
the remuneration committee of the board is responsible for considering directors’ remuneration packages and makes its recommendations to the 
board the committee comprises the three nonexecutive directors and meets at least once a year normally in june
remuneration policy
remuneration packages are designed to be competitive and to reward above average performance executive directors receive salary fully ﬁnanced 
company car death in service beneﬁt critical illness and medical cover pension contribution annual bonuses and share options
service contracts
the executive directors have service agreements with the company dated 28 november 2003 for an initial twelve months thereafter subject to 
termination upon twelve months’ notice being given by either party
pensions
the group does not have a pension scheme instead makes contributions to executive directors’ personal pension schemes of 125 of annual salary
nonexecutive directors
the nonexecutive directors entered into letters of appointment dated 12 may 2004 both d c port and v m f williams were appointed for an initial 
three year term which can be terminated upon six months’ notice being given by either party they receive a fee of £51886 and £20755 respectively 
i ridler is the alchemy plan nominated nonexecutive director the group pays an annual fee of £20580 to alchemy partners in respect of this 
appointment fees and expenses of £23239 2005 £23077 were paid to alchemy partners in the year if the alchemy plan’s shareholding in the 
company falls below 10 of the issued share capital the right to appoint ceases
directors’ remuneration
details of directors’ remuneration are set out below
       subtotal   2006 2005 
    salary beneﬁts bonus  emoluments  pension total total 
    £ £ £ £ £ £ £
executive directors
t j allchurch   155659 16504 5407 177570 19457 197027 202266
m t w tod resigned 23 june 2006   77250 5817 2575 85642 9656 95298 135031
j k hodgson   78625 13890 1442 93957 9828 103785 103937
r a croston   77110 10899 2163 90172 9639 99811 100815
a black   82412 14032 2524 98968 10302 109270 101185
nonexecutive directors
d c port   51886 — — 51886 — 51886 50375
v m f williams   20755 — — 20755 — 20755 20150
i ridler   — — — — — — —
total   543697 61142 14111 618950 58882 677832 713759
performance incentives
the group operates an annual cash bonus scheme and grants share options
the annual bonus scheme provides for a maximum bonus of 30 of salary to be paid by reference to achievement of a group earnings target 10 
surpassing the earnings target 10 and individual personal targets 10
the company has the following share incentive arrangements
  an inland revenue approved executive share option scheme “approved scheme”
  an unapproved executive share option scheme “unapproved scheme” and
  a long term incentive plan “ltip” together “the schemes”
none of the option shares or ltip require payment to be made by participants to receive the beneﬁt of an option
remuneration committee report
1ath2006arbindd   4 12122006   114917 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 16
directors’ interests in share options
the options and awards have been granted pursuant to the schemes to the following directors
  number of share options performance period exercisable
       
  exercise  2 october   1 october    performance 
  price 2005 granted 2006 from to target from to
t j allchurch
approved £149 20134 — 20134 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 2 nov 07 31 oct 14
unapproved £136  335000 — 335000 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 12 jun 07 10 jun 14
unapproved £185 88003 — 88003 1 oct 04 30 sep 07 4420 30 sep 08 28 sep 15
ltip £000 335000 — 335000 1 oct 03 30 sep 07 6442 12 jun 09 10 jun 14
ltip £170 88003 — 88003 1 oct 04 30 sep 08 5980 30 sep 10 28 sep 15
total  866140 — 866140
m t w tod
approved £149  20134 — 20134 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 2 nov 07 31 oct 14
unapproved £136 220000 — 220000 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 12 jun 07 10 jun 14
unapproved £185 58669  — 58669 1 oct 04 30 sep 07 4420 30 sep 08 28 sep 15
ltip £000 240000 — 240000 1 oct 03 30 sep 07 6442 12 jun 09 10 jun 14
ltip £170 58669  — 58669 1 oct 04 30 sep 08 5980 30 sep 10 28 sep 15
total  597472 — 597472
j k hodgson
approved £149 20134 — 20134 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 2 nov 07 31 oct 14
unapproved £136 150000 — 150000 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 12 jun 07 10 jun 14
unapproved £185 41068 — 41068 1 oct 04 30 sep 07 4420 30 sep 08 28 sep 15
ltip £000 170000 — 170000 1 oct 03 30 sep 07 6442 12 jun 09 10 jun 14
ltip £170 41068 — 41068 1 oct 04 30 sep 08 5980 30 sep 10 28 sep 15
total  422270 — 422270
r a croston
approved £149 20134 — 20134 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 2 nov 07 31 oct 14
unapproved £136 150000 — 150000 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 12 jun 07 10 jun 14
unapproved £185 41068 — 41068 1 oct 04 30 sep 07 4420 30 sep 08 28 sep 15
ltip £000 170000 — 170000 1 oct 03 30 sep 07 6442 12 jun 09 10 jun 14
ltip £170 41068 — 41068 1 oct 04 30 sep 08 5980 30 sep 10 28 sep 15
total  422270 — 422270
a black
approved £149 20134 — 20134 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 2 nov 07 31 oct 14
unapproved £136 150000 — 150000 1 oct 03 30 sep 06 3868 12 jun 07 10 jun 14
unapproved £185 41068 — 41068 1 oct 04 30 sep 07 4420 30 sep 08 28 sep 15
ltip £000 170000 — 170000 1 oct 03 30 sep 07 6442 12 jun 09 10 jun 14
ltip £170 41068  — 41068 1 oct 04 30 sep 08 5980 30 sep 10 28 sep 15
total  422270 — 422270
the performance target is cumulative pretax earnings per share 
remuneration committee report continued
1ath2006arbindd   5 12122006   114917 17 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
we have audited the ﬁnancial statements on pages 18 to 32 
this report is made solely to the company’s members as a body in accordance with section 235 of the companies act 1985 our audit work 
has been undertaken so that we might state to the company’s members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and 
for no other purpose to the fullest extent permitted by law we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the 
company’s members as a body for our audit work for this report or for the opinions we have formed
respective responsibilities of directors and auditors
the directors’ responsibilities for preparing the annual report and the ﬁnancial statements in accordance with applicable law and united kingdom 
accounting standards united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice are set out in the statement of directors’ responsibilities
our responsibility is to audit the ﬁnancial statements in accordance with relevant legal and regulatory requirements and international standards on 
auditing uk and ireland
we report to you our opinion as to whether the ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the 
companies act 1985 we also report to you whether in our opinion the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the ﬁnancial 
statements the information given in the directors’ report includes that speciﬁc information presented in the chairman’s statement the chief 
executive’s statement the financial review the corporate governance report and the remuneration committee report
in addition we report to you if in our opinion the company has not kept proper accounting records if we have not received all the information and 
explanations we require for our audit or if information speciﬁed by law regarding directors’ remuneration and other transactions is not disclosed
we read other information contained in the annual report and consider whether it is consistent with the audited ﬁnancial statements this other 
information comprises only the chairman’s statement the chief executive’s statement the financial review and the directors’ report we consider 
the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the ﬁnancial statements 
our responsibilities do not extend to any other information
basis of audit opinion
we conducted our audit in accordance with international standards on auditing uk and ireland issued by the auditing practices board an audit 
includes examination on a test basis of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the ﬁnancial statements it also includes an assessment 
of the signiﬁcant estimates and judgements made by the directors in the preparation of the ﬁnancial statements and of whether the accounting policies 
are appropriate to the group’s and company’s circumstances consistently applied and adequately disclosed
we planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with 
sufﬁcient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the ﬁnancial statements are free from material misstatement whether caused by fraud or other 
irregularity or error in forming our opinion we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the ﬁnancial statements
opinion
in our opinion 
  the ﬁnancial statements give a true and fair view in accordance with united kingdom generally accepted accounting practice of the state 
of the group’s and parent company’s affairs as at 1 october 2006 and of the group’s proﬁt for the year then ended and have been properly 
prepared in accordance with the companies act 1985 and
 the information given in the directors’ report is consistent with the ﬁnancial statements
baker tilly
registered auditor
chartered accountants
2 whitehall quay
leeds ls1 4hg
5 december 2006
independent auditors’ report
to the members of ath resources plc
1ath2006arbindd   6 12122006   114917 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 18
  2006 
      
   continuing   2005 
   operations  acquisition total total 
  notes £ £ £ £
turnover 1 48238409 5887683 54126092 39102920
cost of sales  37431604 3038771 40470375 30076981
gross proﬁt  10806805 2848912 13655717 9025939
administrative expenses  4415524 679481 5095005 3575507
other operating income  18109 — 18109 7018
operating proﬁt 2 6409390 2169431 8578821 5457450
proﬁt on disposal of ﬁxed assets  28151 — 28151 968327
proﬁt on ordinary activities  
before interest  6437541 2169431 8606972 6425777
interest receivable 3   65424 14445
interest payable and similar charges 4   1049563 712927
proﬁt on ordinary activities  
before taxation    7622833 5727295
tax on proﬁt on ordinary activities 6   2614378 1930222
proﬁt on ordinary activities  
after taxation 19   5008455 3797073
basic earnings per share 7   1262p 1149p
diluted earnings per share 7   1245p 1149p
the proﬁt on ordinary activities before taxation arises from the group’s continuing operations
there are no recognised gains or losses other than as stated in the proﬁt and loss account
consolidated proﬁt and loss account
for the year ended 1 october 2006
1ath2006arbindd   7 12122006   114917 19 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
  2006 2005
     
  notes £ £ £ £
fixed assets
goodwill 8  7169554  1610576
t angible ﬁxed assets 9  65143153  44341421
investments 10  501  1
    72313208  45951998
current assets
stocks 11 6762206  5271594
debtors 12 8795546  8171118
   15557752  13442712
creditors amounts falling due 
within one year 13 28554586  12524624
net current liabilitiesassets   12996834  918088
total assets less current liabilities   59316374  46870086
creditors amounts falling due 
after more than one year 14  16601748  8339464
provisions for liabilities and charges 16  12947880  9437793
net assets   29766746  29092829
 
capital and reserves
called up share capital 17  198468  198468
share premium account 18  27341084  27341084
proﬁt and loss account 19  2227194  1553277
equity shareholders’ funds 21  29766746  29092829
the ﬁnancial statements on pages 18 to 32 were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 5 december 2006 and are signed on 
its behalf by
t j allchurch
director
consolidated balance sheet
as at 1 october 2006
1ath2006arbindd   8 12122006   114918 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 20
  2006 2005
     
  notes £ £ £ £
fixed assets
investments 10  5907002  5907002
current assets
debtors due greater than one year 12 50266215  20718650
cash at bank  1285043  914030
   51551258  21632680
creditors amounts falling due  
within one year 13 4100000  — 
net current assets   47451258  21632680
total assets less current liabilities   53358260  27539682
creditors amounts falling due  
after more than one year 14  22686755  —
net assets   30671505  27539682
 
capital and reserves
called up share capital 17  198468  198468
share premium account 18  27341084  27341084
proﬁt and loss account 19  3131823  130
equity shareholders’ funds 21  30671505  27539682
the ﬁnancial statements on pages 18 to 32 were approved by the board of directors and authorised for issue on 5 december 2006 and are signed on 
its behalf by
t j allchurch
director
company balance sheet
at at 1 october 2006
1ath2006arbindd   9 12122006   114918 21 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
  2006 2005
     
  notes £ £ £ £
net cash ﬂow from operating activities 24a  17601108  8611996
returns on investment and servicing 
of ﬁnance 
interest received  65424  14445
interest paid  423332  389385
interest element of ﬁnance leases  626231  323542
    984139  698482
taxation paid   640781  665460
capital expenditure
payments to acquire tangible  
ﬁxed assets  7838182  21220773
receipts from sales of tangible  
ﬁxed assets  376286  2119550
acquisition 24e
cash acquired with subsidiary  22321143  —
purchase of business  25944052  3125000
    11084805  22226223
equity dividends paid   4334538  2333997
cash ﬂow before ﬁnancing   556845  17312166
financing   
issue of ordinary shares  —  15989286
new secured loan  5500000  625724
repayment of secured loan  1793239  44500
capital element of ﬁnance  
lease payments  5459931  3424770
    1753170  13145740
decrease in cash 24c  1196325  4166426
consolidated cash ﬂow statement
for the year ended 1 october 2006
1ath2006arbindd   10 12122006   114918 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 22
basis of accounting
the ﬁnancial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with applicable accounting standards
basis of preparation
the group has net current liabilities of £12996834 the group meets its day to day working capital requirements through an overdraft facility which 
is repayable on demand
the directors have prepared cash ﬂow projections for the coming twelve months which show that the margin of cash requirements is within the group’s 
existing borrowing facilities on the basis of this cash ﬂow information the directors consider that the group will continue to operate within the facility 
currently and anticipated to be available to the group on this basis the directors consider it is appropriate to prepare the ﬁnancial statements on 
the going concern basis the ﬁnancial statements do not include any adjustments that would result from this not being the case
accounting period
the company has drawn up its accounts for the 52 week period to 1 october 2006 53 week period to 2 october 2005
consolidation
the accounts consolidate the accounts of the company and all of its subsidiary undertakings other than as stated below
the accounts do not consolidate the results of the french subsidiary société des ressources minières du massif central “srmmc” as it is not 
material for the purposes of giving a true and fair view note 10
aardvark tmc limited “aardvark” has 20000 ‘b’ ordinary shares subscribed at nominal value of 1p each in addition to the ordinary shares wholly 
owned by ath resources plc
the ‘b’ ordinary shares only carry the rights to receive a one off dividend in the event that aardvark tfc limited or srmmc aardvark’s subsidiary and 
subsubsidiary are awarded damages in respect of existing and future litigation against the french state the ‘b’ ordinary shares carry no voting rights 
or rights to receive any other dividend as a result the ‘b’ ordinary shares are not accounted for as a minority interest as it is not material for the purposes 
of giving a true and fair view
the company has not presented its own proﬁt and loss account as permitted by section 2304 of the companies act 1985
mine development costs
the costs of prospecting and identifying new sites are expensed until such time that a prospective site is considered by the board to be economically 
viable and that there is a high degree of probability and commitment that the site will be worked costs then incurred in preparing and developing sites 
are capitalised up to the start of production upon commencement of production depreciation is charged on a tonnage basis
goodwill
consolidated goodwill being the excess consideration over the fair values of the assets acquired on the purchase of subsidiary undertakings 
is capitalised and charged to proﬁt over ten years
tangible ﬁxed assets
depreciation is provided on cost in annual instalments over the estimated useful life of assets which are reviewed annually the rates of depreciation are 
as follows
freehold land not depreciated 
freehold buildings depreciated to their estimated residual value over their estimated remaining economic lives – 20 years 
mine purchase and development tonnage basis over the estimated total recoverable reserve 
plant and machinery 10 – 50
stocks and work in progress
stocks and work in progress are valued at the lower of cost and net realisable value
accounting policies
1ath2006arbindd   11 12122006   114918 23 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
finance leases and hire purchase contracts
t angible assets acquired under ﬁnance leases and hire purchase contracts are capitalised at the estimated fair value at the date of inception of each 
lease or contract the total ﬁnance charges are allocated over the period of the lease in such a way as to give a reasonably constant charge on the 
outstanding liability
operating lease agreements
rentals applicable to operating leases where substantially all of the beneﬁts and risks of ownership remain with the lessor are charged against proﬁts 
on a straight line basis over the period of the lease
deferred taxation
deferred tax is recognised in respect of all timing differences that have originated but not reversed at the balance sheet date where transactions or 
events that result in an obligation to pay more tax in the future or a right to pay less tax in the future have occurred at the balance sheet date timing 
differences are differences between the group’s taxable proﬁts and its results as stated in the ﬁnancial statements that arise from the inclusion of gains 
and losses in tax assessments in periods different from those in which they are recognised in the ﬁnancial statements
deferred tax is measured at the average tax rates that are expected to apply in the periods in which timing differences are expected to reverse based 
on tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantially enacted by the balance sheet date deferred tax is measured on a nondiscounted basis
pension contributions
the group does not operate a pension scheme for the beneﬁt of its employees but instead makes contributions to their personal pension policies 
the contributions due for the period are charged to the proﬁt and loss account
final void provisions
following the conclusion of coal extraction the ﬁnal working void of a surface coal site must be back ﬁlled the total cost of this operation is 
recognised as a provision on site commissioning when the obligation arises the amount provided represents the present value of the expected costs 
costs are charged to the provision as incurred and the unwinding of the discount being the difference between the present value and the total cost 
of the provision is included in the interest charge for the period an asset is created for an amount equivalent to the initial provision this is charged 
to the proﬁt and loss account on a tonnage basis over the estimated life of the recoverable reserves
turnover
turnover represents the invoiced value net of value added tax of goods sold to customers
employee share schemes
the company operates a number of share based incentives as outlined in the remuneration committee’s report the cost of awards to employees 
being the difference between the market price at the date of award and the amount of consideration due is recognised over the period of the 
employee’s related performance where there is a reasonable expectation that the performance criteria will be met
financial instruments
income and expenditure arising on ﬁnancial instruments are recognised on an accruals basis and credited or charged to the proﬁt and loss account 
in the ﬁnancial period to which they relate
1ath2006arbindd   12 12122006   114918 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 24
1 turnover and segmental reporting
the group’s turnover was derived from its principal activity undertaken wholly within the uk
2 operating proﬁt
     2006 2005 
     £ £
operating proﬁt is stated after charging
depreciation of tangible assets – owned assets   6925263 2651746
  – leased assets   3299220 2091908
amortisation of goodwill arising on consolidation    395696 197208
rentals under operating leases – plant and machinery   355268 625720
  – land and buildings   — 17600
auditors’ remuneration  – audit    37500 25000
  – tax    15500 10000
  – corporate ﬁnance   2700 17800
  – 2006 –  acquisition of a ogden  sons limited £12000 charged  
to acquisition ﬁnance   — —
  – 2005 – open offer £41857 charged to share premium  — —
3 interest receivable
     2006 2005 
     £ £
other interest receivable    65424 14445
4 interest payable and similar charges
     2006 2005 
     £ £
bank overdraft and loan interest    423332 129745
finance leases and hire purchase contracts interest   626231 363517
final void provision discount    — 219665
     1049563 712927
5 employees
     2006 2005 
staff costs during the year including directors    £ £
wages and salaries    9541457 6631630
social security costs    955310 694710
pension costs    147620 87059
     10644387 7413399
     2006 2005 
average number of employees    no no
ofﬁce and management    43 24
production    236 173
     279 197
notes to the ﬁnancial statements 
for the year ended 1 october 2006 
1ath2006arbindd   13 12122006   114919 25 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
5 employees continued
     2006 2005 
directors’ emoluments    £ £
directors’ emoluments    618950 655826
pension contributions    58882 57933
     677832 713759
     2006 2005 
highest paid director    £ £
emoluments    177570 183375
pension contributions    19457 18891
     197027 202266
6 taxation
     2006 2005 
group    £ £
corporation tax
current year    1491141 641060
prior year    71594 91309
deferred taxation    1051643 1380471
     2614378 1930222
the tax assessed for the year is lower than the standard rate of corporation tax as explained below
     2006 2005 
group    £ £
proﬁt on ordinary activities before taxation    7622833 5727295
proﬁt on ordinary activities multiplied by standard rate of tax for the period of 30  2286850 1718189
effect of expenses not allowable for tax purposes   356617 117220
effect of depreciation in excess of capital allowances   1134776 1182208
effect of short term timing differences    17550 12141
total current tax    1491141 641060
7 earnings per share
basic earnings per share is calculated on proﬁt after tax of £5008455 2005 £3797073 and a weighted average number of shares of 39693568 
2005 33033394 the diluted earnings per share takes account of share options outstanding to employees as set out below
     2006 2005 
group    £ £
weighted average number of shares in issue    39693568 33033394
weighted average number of dilutive share options   550714 —
t otal number of shares for calculating diluted earnings per share   40244282 33033394
1ath2006arbindd   14 12122006   114919 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 26
8 goodwill
group     £
cost
2 october 2005     1972128
additions note 24e     5954674
1 october 2006     7926802
amortisation
2 october 2005     361552
charge in the year     395696
1 october 2006     757248
net book value
1 october 2006     7169554
2 october 2005     1610576
9 tangible ﬁxed assets
   freehold  mine  
   land and  purchase and  plant and 
   buildings  development machinery total  
group  £ £ £ £
cost
2 october 2005  2282559 36064927 17022994 55370480
recognised in the year  — 3420000 — 3420000
subsidiary acquired  — — 3443536 3443536
additions  978785 2618913 21945558 25543256
disposals  — 4095000 636970 4731970
1 october 2006  3261344 38008840 41775118 83045302
depreciation
2 october 2005  — 8578910 2450149 11029059
charge in the year  28806 6260888 3934789 10224483
disposals  — 3062558 288835 3351393
1 october 2006  28806 11777240 6096103 17902149
net book value
1 october 2006  3232538 26231600 35679015 65143153
2 october 2005  2282559 27486017 14572845 44341421
finance leases and hire purchase contracts
depreciation charge  — — 3299220 3299220
net book value  — — 27642933 27642933
notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
for the year ended 1 october 2006 
1ath2006arbindd   15 12122006   114919 27 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
10 investments
     group  company  
investments in subsidiary undertakings    £ £
cost
2 october 2005 and 1 october 2006    1 5907002
other investments
cost
2 october 2005    — —
subsidiary acquired    500 —
1 october 2006    500 —
    proportion  
  country of type of   of voting proportion of  nature of  
  registration shares rights held shareholding business
name of company directly owned
aardvark tmc limited england ordinary 100 100 opencast coal mining
ath garleffan limited england ordinary 100 100 opencast coal mining
ath regeneration limited england ordinary 100 100 intermediary 
      holding company
held by subsidiary
a ogden  sons limited england ordinary 100 100 land remediation
aardvark tfc limited england ordinary 100 100 intermediary  
      holding company
société des ressources minières  
du massif central “srmmc” france ordinary 100 100 coal prospecting
aardvark tmc limited has 20000 ‘b’ ordinary shares subscribed at nominal value of 1p each in addition to the ordinary shares wholly owned 
by ath resources limited
the ‘b’ ordinary shares carry the rights only to receive a one off dividend in the event that its subsidiary aardvark tfc limited or its subsidiary 
is awarded damages in respect of the existing and future litigation against the french state the ‘b’ ordinary shares carry no voting rights or rights 
to receive any other dividend as a result the ‘b’ ordinary shares are not accounted for as a minority interest
aardvark tfc limited had share capital and reserves at 1 october 2006 of £1 2005 £1
srmmc share capital and reserves at 31 december 2005 were €102116 and the company incurred a loss of €54379 during that year the group 
provided funding to the company of £44280 2005 £122646 during the year to 1 october 2006 which has been charged to proﬁt there were no 
balances owing at the balance sheet date
aardvark tfc limited and srmmc are not consolidated in the accounts as they are not considered material for the purposes of giving a true and fair view
11 stocks
  2006 2005
     
   group company group company 
   £ £ £ £
coal stocks  1702713 — 1737945 —
work in progress  4201306 — 3447969 —
other stocks  858187 — 85680 —
   6762206 — 5271594 —
1ath2006arbindd   16 12122006   114919 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 28
12 debtors
  2006 2005
     
   group company group company 
   £ £ £ £
amounts due from subsidiary undertakings  — 50266215 — 20718650
trade debtors  8257113 — 7864483 —
prepayments and accrued income  240159 — 296872 —
other debtors  298274 — 9763 —
   8795546 50266215 8171118 20718650
13 creditors amounts falling due within one year
  2006 2005
     
   group company group company 
   £ £ £ £
bank loan note 14  4172000 4100000 122000 —
bank overdraft  2837555 — 1641230 —
finance leases and hire purchase contracts note 14 7837544 — 4197924 —
trade creditors  5776946 — 4635343 —
corporation tax  5109823 — 219435 —
other taxation and social security  385330 — 564168 —
other creditors  136281 — 121354 —
deferred consideration note 24e  1000000 — — —
accruals and deferred income  1299107 — 1023170 —
   28554586 4100000 12524624 —
14 creditors amounts falling due after more than one year
  2006 2005
     
   group company group company 
   £ £ £ £
bank loan  510485 — 853724 —
finance leases and hire purchase contracts  16091263 — 7485740 —
amounts due to subsidiary undertaking  — 22686755 — —
   16601748 22686755 8339464 —
amounts included above are repayable over varying periods by monthly instalments as follows
  bank loan finance leases and hire purchase contracts
     
   2006 2005 2006 2005 
   £ £ £ £
within one year  4172000 122000 7837544 4197924
more than one year but not more than two years  122000 122000 6392629 2568024
more than two years but not more than ﬁve years 366000 366000 9698634 4917716
five years or more  22485 365724 — —
   4682485 975724 23928807 11683664
the bank loan is secured by a ﬁxed charge over certain assets of the group the company is party to a cross guarantee with its subsidiary undertakings 
in respect of bank loans and overdrafts held by group companies which are secured by debentures over the assets of the group obligations under 
ﬁnance leases and hire purchase contracts are secured on the related assets
notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
for the year ended 1 october 2006 
1ath2006arbindd   17 12122006   114919 29 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
15 financial instruments
the group’s ﬁnancial instruments comprise bank loans cash and ﬁnance leases and hire purchase contracts the purpose of these ﬁnancial instruments 
is to ﬁnance the group’s operations all are considered to be stated at fair value short term debtors and creditors have been omitted from all disclosures
it is and has been throughout the period under review the group’s policy that no trading in ﬁnancial instruments shall be undertaken the main risk 
arising from the group’s ﬁnancial instruments is interest rate risk
the bank loan is secured by a ﬁxed charge over certain assets of the group the bank loan is repayable over eight years and bears interest based 
on the bank’s base rate plus 1 2005 base rate plus 1
finance leases and hire purchase contracts are secured on the speciﬁc asset to which the agreement relates and are on fund rate terms the weighted 
average interest rate is 5 2005 5
16 provisions for liabilities and charges
  group
   final void  deferred 
   provision  tax total  company 
   £ £ £  £
2 october 2005  8728630 709163 9437793 —
subsidiary acquired  629841 167000 796841 —
disposals  1032442 — 1032442 —
created in the year  3420000 — 3420000 —
releasedcharged to proﬁt and loss  493449 1051643 558194 —
utilised in the year  232506 — 232506 —
1 october 2006  11020074 1927806 12947880 —
deferred tax comprises
     2006 2005 
     £ £
capital allowances in excess of depreciation    1972548 691384
other timing differences    44742 17779
     1927806 709163
17 called up share capital
  2006 2005
     
ordinary shares of 05p each  number £ number £
authorised  200000000 1000000 200000000 1000000
called up and fully paid  39693568 198468 39693568 198468
18 share premium account
     group  company 
     £ £
2 october 2005 and 1 october 2006    27341084 27341084
19 proﬁt and loss account
     group  company 
     £ £
2 october 2005    1553277 130
proﬁt on ordinary activities after taxation    5008455 7566361
dividends paid    4334538 4334538
1 october 2006    2227194 3131823
1ath2006arbindd   18 12122006   114919 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 30
20 equity dividends
declared and paid during the ﬁnancial year
     2006 2005 
     £ £
final dividend for the year ended 2 october 2005 756p per share 2004 336p per share  3000834 1000293
interim dividend for the year ended 1 october 2006 336p per share 2005 336p per share  1333704 1333704
     4334538 2333997
proposed after the balance sheet date and not recognised as a liability
final dividend for the year ended 1 october 2006 789p per share 2005 756p per share  3131823 3000834
21 reconciliation of movement in shareholders’ funds
  2006 2005
     
   group company group company 
   £ £ £ £
issue of ordinary shares  — — 15989286 15989286
proﬁt for the year  5008455 7566361 3797073 2714166
dividends paid  4334538 4334538 2333997 2333997
net increase in shareholders’ funds  673917 3131823 17452362 16369455
opening shareholders’ funds  29092829 27539682 11640467 11170227
closing shareholders’ funds  29766746 30671505 29092829 27539682
22 operating lease commitments
at 1 october 2006 the group was committed to making the following payments during the next year in respect of operating leases
     2006 2005 
     £ £
plant and machinery
leases which expire within one year    — 34232
leases which expire between two and ﬁve years    104966 72283
23 capital commitments
at 1 october 2006 the group was committed to acquiring plant and machinery
     2006 2005 
     £ £
contracted but not provided    9948900 20816658
notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
for the year ended 1 october 2006 
1ath2006arbindd   19 12122006   114919 31 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
24 cash ﬂows
a reconciliation of operating proﬁt to net cash inﬂow from operating activities 
     2006 2005 
     £ £
operating proﬁt    8578821 5457450
depreciation and amortisation    10620179 4940862
other movements in ﬁxed assets    — 2246874
increase in stocks    746290 263753
decreaseincrease in debtors    2118021 3504489
decreaseincrease in creditors and provisions    2969623 4228800
net cash ﬂow from operating activities    17601108 8611996
b analysis of net debt
   2 october  cash other 1 october 
   2005  ﬂow movements 2006  
   £ £ £ £
cash at bank  1641230 1196325 — 2837555
debt due within one year  122000 4050000 — 4172000
debt due beyond one year  853724 343239 — 510485
finance leases and hire purchase contracts  11683664 5459931 17705074 23928807
    1753170  
   14300618 556845 17705074 31448847
c reconciliation of net cash inﬂow to movement in net debt
     2006 2005 
     £ £
decrease in cash    1196325 4166426
cash ﬂow from changes in debt    1753170 2843546
change in net debt resulting from cash ﬂows    556845 1322880
new ﬁnance leases and hire purchase contracts    17705074 9803930
movement in net debt in year    17148229 11126810
net debt at 2 october 2005    14300618 3173808
net debt at 1 october 2006    31448847 14300618
d other movements in net debt
during the year the group entered into ﬁnance leases and hire purchase contracts arrangements in respect of assets with a total capital value at the 
inception of the agreements of £17705074 2005 £9803930
1ath2006arbindd   20 12122006   114919 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 32
24 cash ﬂows continued
e acquisition of subsidiary
on 18 may 2006 ath regeneration limited a wholly owned subsidiary acquired the whole of the issued share capital of a ogden  sons limited 
for a total consideration of £25944052
      2006 
      £
net assets acquired fair value
tangible ﬁxed assets     3443536
investments     500
stocks     744322
debtors     3102449
cash     22321143
creditors     8785824
provisions     836748
      19989378
goodwill note 8     5954674
      25944052
      2006 
      £
satisﬁed by
cash including costs     24944052
deferred note 13     1000000
total consideration     25944052
the fair value of the net assets acquired equates to book value immediately prior to acquisition
the last audited accounts for a ogden  sons limited prior to acquisition for the year ended 31 december 2005 show a proﬁt after tax of £3326593 
for the subsequent period until acquisition by the group the results of the business extracted from its unaudited management accounts show turnover 
of £4738763 proﬁt on disposal of ﬁxed assets of £12629702 proﬁt before tax of £14640687 tax of £4406125 and proﬁt after tax of £10234562 
there were no recognised gains or losses other than the proﬁt for the period 
25 related party transactions
during the year the group paid alchemy partners llp £23239 2005 £23077 for the services of i ridler nonexecutive director of the company 
no balances were owed to alchemy partners llp at 1 october 2006
notes to the ﬁnancial statements continued
for the year ended 1 october 2006 
1ath2006arbindd   21 12122006   114919 33 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
notice is hereby given that the annual general meeting “agm” of ath resources plc the “company” will be held on monday 8 january 2007 
at 1100 am at the ofﬁces of eversheds llp solicitors cloth hall court inﬁrmary street leeds ls1 2jb for the following purposes
ordinary business
t o consider and if thought ﬁt pass the following ordinary resolutions
1  t o receive and adopt the ﬁnancial statements of the company for the year ended 1 october 2006 together with the directors’ report
2  t o declare a ﬁnal dividend for the year ended 1 october 2006 of 789p per ordinary share of 05p each in the capital of the company to be paid 
on 12 january 2007 to members whose names appear on the register of members at the close of business on 22 december 2006
3  t o reelect d c port as a director who retires by rotation in accordance with article 111 of the company’s articles of association and being eligible 
offers himself for reelection
4  t o reelect i ridler as a director who retires by rotation in accordance with article 111 of the company’s articles of association and being eligible 
offers herself for reelection
5  t o elect s beaumont as a director
6  t o reappoint baker tilly as auditors of the company to hold ofﬁce until the conclusion of the next agm at which ﬁnancial statements are laid before 
the company and to authorise the directors to ﬁx their remuneration
7  t o receive and approve the remuneration committee report
special business
t o consider and if thought ﬁt pass the following resolutions which will be proposed as to resolution 8 as an ordinary resolution and as 
to resolutions 9 and 10 as special resolutions
8  that  subject to and in accordance with article 16 of the articles of association of the company the directors be and they hereby are generally 
and unconditionally authorised for the purposes of section 80 of the companies act 1985 the “ act” in substitution for any existing authority to allot 
relevant securities within the meaning of section 80 of the act to exercise all powers of the company to allot grant options over offer or otherwise 
deal with or dispose of relevant securities up to an aggregate nominal value of £66156 being approximately one third of the current issued share 
capital of the company provided that this authority shall expire 15 months from the date of this resolution or at the conclusion of the next agm 
of the company in 2008 whichever is earlier unless previously renewed varied or revoked by the company in general meeting except that the 
company may before such expiry make an offer or agreement which would or might require relevant securities of the company to be allotted after 
such expiry and the directors may allot relevant securities in pursuance of that offer or agreement as if the authority conferred by this resolution 
had not expired
9  that  subject to the passing of resolution 8 as set out in this notice of agm and in accordance with article 17 of the articles of association of the 
company the directors be and hereby are generally empowered pursuant to section 95 of the act to allot equity securities in substitution for any 
existing authority to allot equity securities within the meaning of section 94 of the act for cash pursuant to the authority conferred by resolution 8 as 
set out in this notice of agm as if section 891 of the act did not apply to such allotment provided that this power shall be limited to the allotment 
of equity securities
 a  in connection with or pursuant to an offer by way of a rights issue open offer or other preemptive offer in favour of ordinary shareholders in 
proportion as nearly as practicable but subject to such exclusions or other arrangements as the directors may deem necessary or desirable 
to deal with fractional entitlements or legal or practical problems under the laws of or the requirements of any regulatory body or any stock 
exchange in any territory to the respective number of ordinary shares held by them and
 b  to the allotment otherwise than pursuant to subparagraph a above of equity securities up to an aggregate nominal value of £9923
  and such power shall expire 15 months from the date of this resolution or at the conclusion of the agm of the company to be held in 2008 
whichever is earlier save that the company may before such expiry make an offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities 
to be allotted after such expiry and the directors may allot equity securities in pursuance of such an offer or agreement as if the power conferred 
hereby had not expired
notice of annual general meeting
1ath2006arbindd   22 12122006   114920 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 34
special business continued
10  that  the company be generally and unconditionally authorised pursuant to article 9 of the articles of association of the company and pursuant 
to section 166 of the act to make market purchases as deﬁned in section 163 of the act of ordinary shares of 05p each in the capital of the 
company provided that
 101  the maximum number of shares hereby authorised to be purchased is 1984678 being approximately 5 of the current issued ordinary share 
capital of the company
 102  the minimum price which may be paid for such shares is 05p per ordinary share being the nominal value thereof
 103  the maximum price exclusive of expenses which may be paid for such shares shall not be more than 105 of the average of the middle 
market quotation for ordinary shares of 05p each in the capital of the company for these shares taken from the listing of the alternative 
investment market of the london stock exchange plc over the ﬁve business days immediately preceding the day on which the contract 
for purchase is made and
 104  the authority shall expire 15 months from the date of this resolution or at the conclusion of the next agm of the company in 2008 whichever 
is earlier provided that the company may before such expiry make a contract to purchase its own shares which would or might be executed 
wholly or partly after such expiry and the company may make a purchase of its own shares in pursuance of such contract as if the authority 
conferred hereby had not expired
by order of the board
r a croston
company secretary
5 december 2006
 
notes
1  any member entitled to attend and vote at the agm is entitled to appoint one or more proxies who need not be a member of the company 
to attend and on a poll vote instead of that member completion and return of a form of proxy will not preclude a member from attending and 
voting at the meeting in person should he subsequently decide to do so
2  in order to be valid any form of proxy power of attorney or other authority under which it is signed or a notarial certiﬁed or ofﬁce copy of such power 
or authority must be lodged at the ofﬁces of the company’s registrars capita registrars proxy department the registry 34 beckenham road 
beckenham kent br3 4tu not later than 48 hours before the time of the meeting or of any adjournment of the meeting
3  as permitted by regulation 41 of the uncertiﬁcated securities regulations 2001 shareholders who hold shares in uncertiﬁcated form must be 
entered on the company’s share register at 1100 am on 5 january 2007 in order to be entitled to attend and vote at the agm such shareholders 
may only cast votes in respect of shares held at such time changes to entries on the relevant register after that time shall be disregarded in 
determining the rights of any person to attend or vote at the meeting
4  copies of the service contracts of each of the directors and the register of directors’ interests in shares of the company kept pursuant to section 325 
of the act will be available for inspection at the registered ofﬁce of the company during usual business hours on any weekday saturdays and public 
holidays excluded from the date of this notice until the date of the agm and at the place of the agm from at least 15 minutes prior to and until the 
conclusion of the agm
5  crest users should note that they can lodge their proxy vote for the meeting through the crest proxy voting system for further instructions 
users should refer to the crest user manual any crest sponsored member should contact their crest sponsor
notice of annual general meeting continued
1ath2006arbindd   23 12122006   114920 35 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
iwe block capitals
of
being a membermembers of ath resources plc hereby appoint the chairman of the meeting
as myour proxy to vote for meus on myour behalf at the agm of the company to be held on monday 8 january 2007 and at every adjournment thereof
iwe direct the proxy to vote on the resolutions set out in the notice convening the agm as follows
please indicate how you wish your proxy to vote by placing a tick in the appropriate space unless otherwise indicated the proxy will exercise hisher 
discretion as to how heshe votes and whether or not heshe abstains from voting
 resolution for against
 1  ordinary – to receive and adopt the ﬁnancial statements for the year ended 1 october 2006  
together with the directors’ report
 2 ordinary – to declare a ﬁnal dividend for the year ended 1 october 2006
 3 ordinary – to reelect d c port as a director
 4 ordinary – to reelect i ridler as a director
 5 ordinary – to elect s beaumont as a director
 6  ordinary – to reappoint baker tilly as auditors of the company and to authorise the directors  
to ﬁx their remuneration
 7 ordinary – to receive and approve the remuneration committee report
 8 ordinary – to authorise the directors to allot shares
 9 special – to disapply preemption rights
 10 special – to authorise the company to buy its own shares
signed 
dated 
  if you wish to appoint some other person as your proxy please insert their name and address here delete the words “chairman of the meeting” and initial the alteration 
the proxy need not be a member of the company
notes
1  in order to be valid this form of proxy and any power of attorney or other authority under which it is signed or a notarial certiﬁed or ofﬁce copy 
of such power or authority must be lodged at the ofﬁces of the company’s registrars capita registrars proxy department the registry 
34 beckenham road beckenham kent br3 4tu not later than 48 hours before the time appointed for the meeting or any adjournment of 
the meeting
2  in the case of joint holders the signature of any one of them is sufﬁcient but the vote of the ﬁrst named on the register of members will be 
accepted to the exclusion of other joint holders
3  in the case of a corporation this form must be executed either under a common seal or under the hand of an ofﬁcer or attorney duly authorised 
in writing
4  if no speciﬁc voting directions are given your proxy may vote or abstain from voting as heshe thinks ﬁt on the resolution and any other business 
conducted at the meeting
5 any alterations made to this form of proxy should be initialled
6  crest users should note that they can lodge their proxy votes for the meeting through the crest proxy voting system for further instructions 
users should refer to the crest user manual any crest sponsored members should contact their crest sponsor
7  any member entitled to attend and vote at the agm is entitled to appoint one or more proxies and on a poll to vote instead of that member 
the proxy need not be a member of the company
8 completion and return of the form of proxy will not preclude a member from attending the meeting and voting in person if heshe so chooses
9  as permitted by regulation 41 of the uncertiﬁcated securities regulations 2001 shareholders who hold shares in uncertiﬁcated form must be 
entered on the company’s share register at 1100 am on 5 january 2007 in order to be entitled to attend and vote at the agm such shareholders 
may only cast votes in respect of shares held at such time
form of proxy 
for use at the annual general meeting to be held at 1100 am on monday 8 january 2007
1ath2006arbindd   24 12122006   114920 business reply style
business reply
licence number
mb 122
capita registrars
proxy department
po box 25
beckenham
kent br3 4br
ﬁrst fold
second fold
third fold
1ath2006arbindd   25 12122006   114921 group operations
doncaster
head ofﬁce
grimethorpe 
registered ofﬁce
aardvark house
sidings court
doncaster dn4 5nu
company number
4928463
bankers
royal bank of scotland
2 whitehall quay
leeds ls1 4hr
solicitors
eversheds llp
cloth hall court
inﬁrmary street
leeds ls1 2jb
auditors
baker tilly
2 whitehall quay
leeds ls1 4hg
nominated adviser and broker
seymour pierce limited
bucklersbury house
3 queen victoria street
london ec4n 8el
financial pr advisors
abchurch communications limited
100 cannon street
london ec4n 6eu
registrar
capita registrars
the registry
34 beckenham road
beckenham
kent br3 4tu
corporate information
company diary 2007
 8  january 2007 annual general meeting
12  january 2007 final dividend paid
 1  april 2007 half year end
12  june 2007 interim results and dividend declared
27  june 2007 ordinary shares go exdividend
20  july 2007 interim dividend paid
30  september 2007 financial year end
 5  december 2007 preliminary results and dividend declared
21  december 2007 ordinary shares go exdividend
1coverindd   2 12122006   115227 annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
aardvark house 
sidings court 
doncaster dn4 5nu
tel  44 01302 760462 
fax  44 01302 760463 
web  wwwathcouk
ath’s commitment to environmental issues is reﬂected in this annual report which 
has been printed on revive silk a recycled paper stock it contains 75 deinked 
post consumer waste and 25 combination mill broke and virgin ﬁbres 
this document was printed by beacon press using their environmental print 
technology which minimises the impact of printing on the environment all energy 
used comes from renewable sources vegetable based inks have been used and 
85 of all waste associated with this production has been recycled the printer is 
a carbon neutral
®
 company 
both the printer and the paper mill are registered to iso 14001 
ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
1coverindd   1 12122006   115040


Summary:
 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 04
operational review
the surface mining business has continued 
to perform in line with expectations
skares road moved into a new area of operation 
in october 2005 which although higher in operational 
stripping ratio yields good quality coal and mitigates 
the overall restoration cost this site which initially 
was to have been a 3m tonne ﬁve year site will 
now end up producing some 6m tonnes worked 
over ten years
the garleffan site ceased production in june 2006 
and has since moved into restoration the site 
will be restored over the coming two years 
to produce a wetland and protected nesting 
ground the restoration plan has won the 
coal authority’s annual environmental award
grievehill was granted an extension of 04m 
tonnes during the year which will keep the site 
in production until september 2007 a further 
10m tonne extension is to be applied for in the 
near future
“ the acquisition of ath ogden has provided 
the group with a suitable complementary 
diversiﬁcation from our core surface mining 
activity and we will endeavour to derive added 
value from this over the coming year” 
04  the former colliery tip at grimethorpe is being processed to recover coal 
whilst at the same time restoring the site to public access park land
05  a team of development engineers are based at the group’s head ofﬁce 
in doncaster they work on all aspects of site identiﬁcation planning and 
design using a 3d cad system
06  coal at glenmuckloch is being stockpiled ahead of the completion of 
the conveyor
chief executive’s statement
04
1ath2006arfindd   4 12122006   115440 05 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
glenmuckloch was opened up successfully during 
the autumn and has been producing coal to plan 
dispatch of coal from the site is awaiting the 
completion of a 12 km conveyor which is to link 
the three sites of glenmuckloch grievehill 
and laigh glenmuir to the group’s railhead 
at crowbandsgate whilst the commencement 
of construction of this conveyor was delayed 
in obtaining the necessary consents the group’s 
performance through the construction phase 
has been outstanding
the conveyor which is in the ﬁnal stages 
of commissioning and beneﬁts from a freight 
facility grant from the scottish executive will 
be the longest over land conveyor in europe 
this investment will deliver a more efﬁcient 
operation in moving coal from the mine to 
disposal point and at the same time reduce 
the impact to the environment by removing  
54500 lorry journeys and saving some 19m 
lorry miles per annum
laigh glenmuir which was granted planning 
permission in january 2006 entered production 
in the autumn and has been successfully 
established ahead of the winter the group 
expects that the site will operate for two and a 
half years with a yield of some 05m tonnes
overall the surface mines have performed 
well during the past twelve months assisted 
by the close monitoring of costs including fuel 
which we successfully hedged and investment 
in new plant to complement the existing ﬂeet
the ath ogden regeneration business has 
been successfully integrated into the group 
the business has been performing ahead 
of expectations at the time of acquisition 
operational technical and administrative 
beneﬁts have been realised including the 
improvement of recovery through the coal 
washing process at the surface mines 
ath ogdens’ expertise in land regeneration 
will be applied to new projects over the next 
few years
development projects
as previously announced the group increased 
the size of the development team during the 
year the team has been focused on pursuing 
a number of projects which are expected to 
increase group reserves year on year in addition 
an extensive exercise has been undertaken during 
the year to “desk top” review prospective sites 
and these are being incorporated into a ﬁve year 
development plan
sites for development by both the surface mining 
and ath ogden businesses are currently being 
evaluated and the group expects to make two 
planning applications for new schemes in the 
next year
planning permission for laigh glenmuir and 
an extension at grievehill were received during 
the year however it was regrettable that the 
planning application submitted for the muir dean 
site was turned down by fife council the decision 
will be the subject of an appeal and the group 
remains conﬁdent of a successful outcome 
given the recommendation from the council 
ofﬁcers and the lack of substance in the 
councillors’ objections
  robert haskell
 project manager head ofﬁce
 robert has worked for the company for over ﬁve years his role  
 in the development department is to ﬁnd evaluate and project  
 manage new sites through the planning process 
“ it’s exciting to see an outline scheme for 
a site that i have identiﬁed to become an 
operating coal mine”
05 06
1ath2006arfindd   5 12122006   115528 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006 06
chief executive’s statement continued
development projects continued
progress in developing the group’s reserves 
in france has been slow the commentry 
concession application is presently awaiting 
the minister for energy’s determination in paris 
however it is believed that all of the requirements 
of the application have been met on the bertholene 
concession drilling has been delayed by land 
access issues but it is believed that these will 
be overcome shortly
reserves of recoverable coal proven and 
probable were 79m tonnes as at 1 october 2006 
as detailed in the adjacent table after allowing 
for the extraction of 18m tonnes in the year 
and 05m tonnes which arose from the purchase 
of ath ogden 11m tonnes was generated 
through the granting of planning permissions for 
extensions to existing sites and reengineering 
sites to increase recoverable coal the group’s 
pipeline of projects is expected to see continuing 
replacement of reserves over the coming years 
market
the market for coal has remained buoyant 
during the last twelve months and shows no 
sign of falling due to high international prices 
although the recent weakening of the dollar 
has mitigated the high international prices 
07 07
07  tyre management is closely controlled with predetermined tyre changes in order 
to optimise tyre life
08  delivery of the ﬁrst of two komatsu pc3000 excavators took place in august 2006 
and has been a welcome addition to the muck shifting operation proving to be 
a reliable and capable machine 
09  each site is surveyed weekly to determine the progress made and to measure 
the efﬁciency of the coal recovery process
coal reserves
at 1 october 2006
    at 1 october 2006
    proven  probable  total 
site    tonnes  tonnes  tonnes
skares road   710000  —  710000
grievehill   750000  — 750000
glenmuckloch   3200000  —  3200000
laigh glenmuir   500000  —  500000
muir dean   —  2275000  2275000
total surface mining   5160000  2275000  7435000
ath ogden – grimethorpe   490000  —  490000
total   5650000  2275000  7925000
  the information in this report relating to exploration results mineral resources or mineral reserves is based 
on information compiled by mr peter morgan a full time employee of the company who is a fellow of the 
institute of materials minerals and mining mr morgan has sufﬁcient experience which is relevant to the style 
of mineralisation and type of deposit under consideration he has reviewed and consents to the inclusion in 
the report of the matters based on his information in the form and context in which it appears a glossary of 
terms is available on our website – wwwathcouk
08
1ath2006arfindd   6 12122006   115603 07 ath resources plc annual report and ﬁnancial statements 2006
the long term trends would still indicate a period 
of relatively high prices with more than one third 
of the uk coal burn being supplied from russia 
which is at the top of the price curve
demand for coal in the uk for electricity 
generation has been growing steadily during 
the last ten years from 47m tonnes in 1997 to 
over 52m tonnes in 2005 this has been on the 
back of year on year increases in electricity 
generation coupled with the rapid rise in oil and 
consequently gas prices enabling coal ﬁred 
generation to earn a greater proportion of the 
electricity generation mix at 34 in 2005
however with the decline in deep mined coal 
production over 68 of the uk’s requirements 
are now imported whilst the balancing 32 
was split roughly evenly between deep mined 
and opencast coal in 2005 accordingly there 
is good scope for increasing the group’s share 
of the market
the group has a portfolio of sales contracts 
with the electricity supply industry “esi” which 
are for different periods of time and at the year 
end had cover for 43m tonnes running out to 
march 2010
the group remains conﬁdent in the market for 
coal for the foreseeable future
staff
it was with much regret that mike tod 
tendered his resignation from the board of 
ath resources plc due to ill health although 
he has made a good recovery mike has decided 
to scale back his workload and will continue 
to be employed within the group on a part 
time basis
i would like to pay my personal thanks to mike 
whose help and support was vital in launching 
ath resources in 1998 and making it the 
successful company it is today
staff recruitment and training is vital to the 
success of any company but particularly so 
to one which operates in such a potentially 
dangerous industry over recent years the 
group has invested heavily in staff development 
and we were granted training centre status 
by city and guilds in may 2006 which allows 
the group to train employees to level 2 nvq 
in plant operations ath is the only provider 
of accredited training speciﬁc to the surface 
mining industry
a positive health and safety environment is a priority 
to the group with all accidents being reported to 
the board the group strives to be a leader in 
the sector and to this end has been working in 
conjunction with the health  safety executive 
to measure health and safety performance 
this year has been an extremely busy period for 
the group in which there has been a continued 
strong operational performance and additions to 
the reserve base this has been complemented 
by the successful acquisition of ath ogden i am 
very grateful to all of the staff who have helped 
achieve these goals and the group looks forward 
to building on these successes in 2007
tom allchurch
chief executive
 derek mcmurdo
 site engineer skares road
  derek’s role includes surveying the site to determine the 
amount of work performed each week as well as calculating 
coal recoveries he is also involved in the site design process 
“ all of us are encouraged to work 
as part of a team” 
09
1ath2006arfindd   7 12122006   115639