18th May 2015 08:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Microgen PLC said Monday its results for its first four months to end-April are ahead of its expectations and the previous year, and announced that Chairman Martyn Ratcliffe will retire after the release of its interim results in July and sell his shares.
In a statement ahead of its annual general meeting, the company said Ratcliffe will remain as an employee until end-September to provide a transition, and the search for a successor is underway. Ratcliffe plans to realise his investment in Microgen, and will be working with broker Investec PLC to place his holding with institutional shareholders.
Ratcliffe is the Microgen's fourth biggest shareholder, with 7.1% stake.
Microgen said it maintains its good visibility of its full-year revenue, with 84% of its total planned revenue for 2015 already contracted. After its 2014 results in February, it was approached by a UK private equity organisation which led to a proposal to acquire Microgen's Aptitude Software business.
The company said Monday that whilst the proposal affirmed its market valuation and the potential for Aptitude, Microgen's board did not consider the proposal to be in the best interests of shareholders, so talks were terminated.
"In summary, the board are pleased with the start to the year and anticipate continuing the group's track record of resilient financial performance," Ratcliffe said in the statement.
Shares in Microgen are trading up 2.2% at 116.50 pence Monday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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