Avanti interim pre-tax loss widens, as firm raises satellite equity funds

5th Feb 2015 11:01

Satellite communication services Avanti Communications said it had raised £60.6m by issuing new shares as part of a financing process to fund the construction and launch of the HYLAS 4 satellite.The company said the money it has raised, along with its ability to issue up to $125m under its existing bond indenture following the high-yield bond financing conducted in 2014, will be sufficient to front the full costs of HYLAS 4.In a statement released on Thursday, Avanti said it had issued 28.9m new shares, each priced at 210p, to new and existing institutional investors.The FTSE 250 group, which expects to boost its future cash generation potential, said it had considered a number of options before opting for the equity raising, which it considered as the "strongest" option.In the six months to 31 December, the group reported a pre-tax loss of $48.1m compared with $41.8m in the corresponding period in 2013, while revenue rose 24% to $31.1m.Driven by satellite depreciation, costs rose to $42.6m from $37.5m, while operating expenses were $17.4m from $16.6m."Full year organic growth expectations before the negative impact of forex translation, are underpinned by a combination of the expected growth in the third quarter and contracts that are still to be finalised, but are currently well progressed in Avanti's order pipeline," the company said.Avanti shares were up 8.41% to 245.00p at 11:55 on Thursday.