15th Jan 2015 09:02
LONDON (Alliance News) - Scientific Digital Imaging PLC saw its shares slide early Thursday after it launched a discounted equity fundraising to raise GBP0.5 million for working capital and to cover the recent costs for re-organising its synoptics business.
The company also said its adjusted operating loss had more than halved in the first half of its financial year, and it's expecting further trading improvements in the second half now that it has completed the revamp of the synoptics unit.
In a statement, the digital imaging technology company said it it has placed 4.5 million shares at 10 pence each with some institutional and other investors. Scientific Digital Chairman Ken Ford intends to subscribe for 625,000 shares later Thursday, which will give him a holding of 1 million shares, or a stake of about 3.0%.
The placing needs to be approved by shareholders at a general meeting that the company has called for February 9.
Scientific Digital Imaging shares were down nearly 17.0% at 9.55 pence early Thursday due to the placing, making it one of the worst-performing stocks on the AIM All-Share index on the day.
Separately, the company reported a pretax loss of GBP227,000 for the six months to October 31, wider than the GBP74,000 loss it reported a year earlier, as revenue fell to GBP3.2 million, from GBP3.5 million, reorganisation costs more than doubled to GBP51,000, and it booked aborted transaction costs of GBP131,000.
Still, its adjusted operating loss more than halved to GBP20,000, from a loss of GBP45,000 a year earlier, as it cut administrative costs by 13% on the year.
The company, which supplies its digital imaging technology to the life sciences, healthcare, astronomy, and art conservation markets, said recent acquisition Opus Instruments had contributed sales revenue and profitable trading during the period, while its Artemis CCD business continued to report sales and profitability above budget.
It synoptics unit, which sells instruments to the life sciences industry reported falling sales in North and South America, which the company said it has addressed by introducing a new mid-range product called T:Genius. It has also recruited a new US sales and marketing vice-president.
"The board anticipates that Opus Instruments and Artemis CCD will continue to make positive contributions to SDI. The new Synoptics products released in the last quarter of 2014, together with our other group subsidiaries are expected to provide a sound base to make further acquisitions in due course," Chairman Ford said in a statement.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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