The board of Ovoca Resources has distanced itself from comments made by the company's chairman, Mr Paul Smithwick, at its recent annual general meeting.

At the meeting Mr Smithwick predicted that the company's share price could reach £4 next October on the back of a substantial mineral find. However, the board yesterday issued a statement to the stock exchange saying that this prediction "based on current information is totally unjustifiable".

Ovoca's share prices rose strongly following Mr Smithwick's comment, from 12p last Thursday to a high of 32p on Tuesday, although it dropped back 4p yesterday to 28p.