Capital & Regional slumps on placing, loss

20th Aug 2009 09:50

Shares in Capital & Regional plummeted more than 45% after the property fund manager reported a half-year loss and announced a £69.2m capital raising.The group said it intends to raise the cash through a placing to new cornerstone investor Parkdev and an underwritten placing and open offer to ordinary shareholders. The net proceeds of the issue are expected to be £62.8m after an estimated £6.4m of costs and will be used to pay down the debt on the group's revolving credit facility and meet other working capital requirements.Net assets stood at £50.8m as at 30 June compared with £186.1m as at 30 December after a loss for the period of £134.7m (2008: £201.4m).'The actions taken since the beginning of the year, including the refinancing of The Junction and X-Leisure Funds and culminating in the Capital Raising and related renegotiation of credit facilities, significantly strengthen the financial position of the group,' said chairman Tom Chandos.'The group should, as a result, be in a position to exploit its established community retail and leisure asset management skills to enhance the value of existing funds and to take advantage of investing opportunities once the turn in the market occurs.'