Small trades halve CLA share price

28th Oct 2009 17:58

Commercial jet leasing business Capital Lease Aviation suffered a halving of its share price after four trades went through in the afternoon at prices of 28p and 29p a share. The total value of the trades was £2,228 but they knocked 30p from the share price, which ended the day at 27.5p. The only other trade during the day was in the morning at 55p a share. That trade was worth £1,375. CLA was spun out of Plus-quoted Avation in 2007. Avation still owns 51.22%. Avation and three nominees owned 93% of the share capital between them at the end of June 2009. It is difficult to assess if nominee holdings are made up of a number of shareholders but these shareholdings suggest that the shares are tightly held. The most recent news from CLA was its results for the year to June 2009. CLA reported more than trebled profits of £3.63m. The shares are trading on less than nine times 2008-09 earnings. CLA admitted that raising debt to expand the aircraft leasing portfolio may become more difficult. Net debt was just over £38.4m at the end of June 2009. NAV was £20.4m. The company's six aircraft are leased to Australian, American and European airlines.