11th Nov 2020 19:09
(Alliance News) - Ricardo PLC on Wednesday said it pocketed GBP29.3 million from a fundraise and reported a solid performance in the first quarter of its financial year, characterised by growth in its overall order intake.
The environmental services consultancy said it raised GBP29.3 million through a placing, subscription and retail offer. The proceeds will go towards resetting the group capital structure via the paying of drawn down debt facilities.
Ricardo issued 8.0 million shares at 333 pence each. Shares in the company closed 9.2% lower at 335.00p each in London on Wednesday.
For the three months to the end of September, order intake stood at GBP105.2 million, a 19% rise from the same period the year before.
This was attributed to growth from all of Ricardo's segments except for Performance Products, which dropped by 42% to GBP13.2 million, reflecting a lower level of orders from McLaren.
Both Automotive & Industrial and Rail increased their orders by 27% and 40% respectively, attributed to large multi-year contracts.
"I am pleased with the level of orders received in the first quarter, being an increase on the same pre-Covid period last year. However, with the mix of orders received and forecast within A&I, together with the continuing challenging conditions in A&I EMEA, we expect the group's revenue and trading performance to be materially more weighted towards the second half of the current financial year than in previous years," said Chief Executive Officer Dave Shemmans.
"The economic outlook continues to be uncertain and we approach the year ahead with a degree of caution, with our non-Automotive businesses providing some resilience against continuing challenges in the Automotive segment. Nevertheless, we have established a firm and diversified platform for our business and looking forward I remain confident of the prospects for the group," Shemmans added.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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