7th Nov 2013 11:23
LONDON (Alliance News) - Waterman Group PLC Thursday said Ruffer Investment Management has become its largest shareholder after the entire 28.85% stake previously held by turnaround investor Peter Gyllenhammar and associated parties was placed with institutional investors.
Separate filings showed Ruffer now has a 25% stake in Waterman,
The engineering and environmental consultancy has been going through a restructuring in recent years, pulling out of markets like China and United Arab Emirates and retrenching back to its main UK market where it has been working on projects like creating a new UK headquarters for Google at Kings Cross in London.
Gyllenhammar specialises in investing in companies in financial difficulty, particularly small-cap UK stocks. No reason was given for his exit from Waterman, but it signals that the turnaround of the business is on track.
In its most recent results, Waterman reported another drop in profits and revenues for the first half of this year, but significantly raised its dividend as it reported a rising order book and said it was confident about the future.
In its shareholding announcement, Chief Executive Nick Taylor said it was making encouraging progress in recent trading.
"Peter has been an engaged shareholder, who has taken a keen interest in the recovery of the group," Taylor said in the statement.
"I am delighted to welcome the new shareholders who have invested in the group. We were encouraged by the strong support that we have received in recent presentations," he added.
Waterman shares were up 3.4% at 60.47 pence Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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