6th Jul 2023 14:11
(Alliance News) - TClarke PLC on Thursday said its trading was strong in recent weeks with a "record" order book, putting it on track to achieve its revenue target, and announced a successful oversubscribed share placing to fund further expansion.
The London-headquartered engineering services company said that trading has continued to be strong from its annual general meeting on May 10 to date. TClarke "remains highly confident" that it can achieve its three-year growth strategy set out in March 2021, with revenue exceeding GBP500 million in the current financial year.
Furthermore the company said its forward order book "has been replenished and strengthened significantly". It stood at "a record" GBP781 million on June 30, up from GBP586 million at the same time one year prior. Chief Executive Officer Mark Lawrence said this "will convert to planned revenue expansion in the medium term," which he said was "without doubt a significant milestone".
Additionally, TClarke said it was GBP4.5 million cash positive at June 30.
"Having proactively invested in resources and capacity to support the group's growth ambitions, TClarke is well-positioned to manage these additional revenues in our chosen market sectors," the company said.
TClarke also on Thursday announced that it conditionally raised GBP10.7 million through an oversubscribed share placing by Cenkos Securities PLC. The issue price was 122 pence per share, which TClarke said represented a roughly 14% discount to the closing mid-market price of 141.5p per share on Wednesday. Regent Gas Holdings Ltd, TClarke's largest shareholder, subscribed for 4.0 million placing shares.
On Thursday afternoon in London, shares in TClarke were down 5.8% at 133.26p per share.
TClarke said the placing's net proceeds will further strengthen its balance sheet, and provide further resources for the capture and delivery of additional short to medium term attractive contract opportunities in its London businesses. This is anticipated to drive additional growth and margin expansion.
The company said it expects "significant earnings accretion deployment" of the proceeds, into the delivery of near-term contract wins.
"All of us at TClarke remain absolutely focused on our approach to targeted tendering, risk management and the successful delivery of our projects," Lawrence commented.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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