Petards Group PLC Proposed Placing (9765U)
December 09 2013 - 1:01AM
UK Regulatory
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RNS Number : 9765U
Petards Group PLC
09 December 2013
9 December 2013
PETARDS GROUP PLC
("Petards" or "the Company")
Proposed Placing
Petards announced today that it proposes to raise approximately
GBP1.15 million (before expenses) by way of a placing of 11,500,000
new Ordinary Shares at a price of 10 pence per share. The Placing
is conditional, inter alia, upon the Company obtaining approval
from its Shareholders to disapply statutory pre-emption rights and
to grant the Board authority to allot the Placing Shares. The
Placing, which has been arranged by Hybridan and WH Ireland
pursuant to the terms of the Placing Agreement, is also conditional
upon Admission. The Placing has not been underwritten.
Background to and reasons for the Placing
While trading conditions for 2013 have remained difficult, the
Board's expectation that order intake would improve in the second
half of the year has been realised. In the period since the Company
reported its 2013 Interim Results on 30 September 2013, it has been
awarded a number of significant contracts by both its rail and
defence customers. The principal contract wins are as follows:
-- On 13 November 2013, the Company announced that it had been
awarded a contract worth over GBP7 million by the Ministry of
Defence ("MOD") for the supply and support of secure radio
equipment for the RAF. The contract is for the replacement of the
RAF's entire current Secure Management Radio Equipment ("SMRE")
capability. The purpose of SMRE is to allow Air Traffic Control at
RAF bases to direct the safe movement of vehicles and personnel on
the airfield manoeuvring area. It is also used in a secondary role
to provide direct communication between Air Traffic Control and
those in an airfield support role such as guards, medical
personnel, re-fuelling and fire crews. The project, the bulk of
which will be delivered in 2014, includes a contract to provide
maintenance and support to SMRE over a ten year period until
November 2023 with the option to extend that support contract by a
further five years.
-- On 11 November 2013, the Company announced that it had been
awarded a contract to supply Hyundai Rotem of South Korea with
Petards eyeTrain on-board digital CCTV systems for Electrical
Multiple Unit ("EMU") trains that they are supplying to New
Zealand. The contract is for the supply of eyeTrain systems
comprising saloon CCTV, forward facing cameras and automatic
passenger counting to be installed on 70 additional 'Matangi' EMU
cars that Hyundai Rotem will supply to Greater Wellington Railways
as part of a new extension order. Petards already supplied the
systems on the previous 96 'Matangi' EMU cars delivered by Hyundai
Rotem to the same customer. The contract is worth over GBP1 million
and deliveries are expected to commence in the second half of 2014
and to be completed by the end of that year.
-- On 24 October 2013, the Company announced that it had
received a contract for its eyeTrain on-board digital CCTV systems
to be installed on new Alstom Coradia Nordic X60 suburban EMU
trains that are to be built by Alstom at their Salzgitter plant in
Germany.
-- On 9 October the Company announced that it had secured a
contract to supply Bombardier Transportation ("Bombardier") with
Petards eyeTrain saloon and Driver Only Operation ("DOO") CCTV
systems for the 116 new Bombardier Electrostar EMU vehicles that
they are building for Southern Railway which will initially operate
on the Thameslink route before being cascaded onto newly
electrified routes. The contract is worth over GBP1.75 million and
deliveries are expected to commence and be completed during
2014.
The value of these orders is in excess of GBP10 million and, as
anticipated, the revenue benefit of these orders will be largely
seen in 2014. The Company's current order book is approaching GBP20
million of which approximately half is expected to be delivered in
2014.
The significant increase in its order book brings with it a
requirement for greater working capital. Having reviewed its
options for addressing this requirement, the Board and has
concluded that, at the current time, raising equity through the
Placing, which has the added benefit of further strengthening the
balance sheet, is the most appropriate method of addressing this
requirement.
Settlement and Dealings
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the
Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected
that Admission will become effective on 30 December 2013.
The Placing Shares will, when issued, rank pari passu in all
respects with the Existing Ordinary Shares including the right to
receive dividends and other distributions declared following
Admission.
Use of Proceeds
The Directors intend that the net proceeds of the Placing of
approximately GBP1.065 million will be applied principally to meet
the increase in working capital arising from the recent contract
wins. Some of the proceeds will also be used for reorganisation
within the Company and further product development.
General Meeting
The General Meeting to approve the necessary resolutions to
implement the proposals has been convened to be held at The County
Club, 158 High Street, Guildford, Surrey GU1 3HJ at 11.00 a.m. on
27 December 2013.
The Definitions which apply in the Circular (a copy of which can
be found at the Company website www.petards.com) have been used in
this announcement.
For further information:
Petards Group plc www.petards.com
Raschid Abdullah, Chairman Tel: 01483 452 333
Mb: 07768 905 004
WH Ireland Limited, Nomad and www.wh-ireland.co.uk
Joint Broker
Mike Coe Tel: 0117 945 3470
Hybridan LLP, Joint Broker www.hybridan.com
Claire Louise Noyce Tel: 020 7947 4350
claire.noyce@hybridan.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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