ARMS says former exec ordered to repay $173 mln, shares up 300 pct

LONDON, Dec (Shanghai: 600875.SS - news) 31 (Reuters) - Asia Resource Minerals (LSE: ARMS.L - news) (ARMS) said on Wednesday that a Singapore tribunal has ruled that former executive Rosan Roeslani has to repay the company $173 million, plus interest and legal costs, lifting its shares by more than 300 percent.

The coal producer, formerly known as Bumi, launched the arbitration in Singapore a year ago to enforce a previous settlement with Roeslani, the former head of its Berau subsidiary, under which the executive had agreed to pay the sum.

Raising cash is vital for heavily indebted ARMS, which has been battered by boardroom battles and plunging coal prices since listing in London in 2010 and urgently needs to refinance.

Early last year ARMS said that it had found $201 million of Berau expenditure that had "no business purpose". Roeslani has not admitted wrongdoing but agreed in June 2013 to pay the sum if Bumi dropped legal claims. ARMS then launched the arbitration in December that year, saying that it did not believe that Roeslani intended to make any payments.

Reuters was unable to reach Roeslani for immediate comment on Wednesday.

"The Company will seek to enforce the arbitration award by all available means against Roeslani and will update on its progress in this regard as soon as practicable in January 2015," ARMS said in a statement.

Shares in ARMS, which have lost more of 90 percent of their value since listing, climbed by more than 300 percent after the announcement. They were up 322 percent by 1042 GMT at 17.5 pence per share. (Reporting by Silvia Antonioli; Editing by David Goodman)