William Sinclair tanks on wider losses and fundraising requirement
Shares in weedkiller and compost producer William Sinclair lost almost a third of their value as the Aim company revealed losses widened in the first half of the year.
FTSE AIM All-Share
745.67
17:08 19/04/24
Household Goods & Home Construction
12,287.29
17:10 19/04/24
Sinclair (William) Holdings
11.50p
14:04 29/01/16
New chief executive Stuart Burgin, appointed in March, said the company needed to raise funds in order to continue with its turnaround, after the installation and commissioning of a plant at Ellesmere Port proved much more challenging than had been expected.
The Ellesmere commissioning led to a loss of business predominantly on the professional side due to difficulties in servicing customers at times, with some sales also lost on the retail side.
Margins were also hit as the company cut prices to defend its business in some areas.
Burgin said his main focus since joining had been on improving the performance at Ellesmere Port as well as developing plans for the future.
"I am pleased to say that commissioning of Ellesmere Port has moved forward considerably and that we have developed strong plans for the future revolving around a single point of dispatch from Ellesmere Port and increased focus on customer and product profitability.
"Provided we are successful in raising the funds required to implement these plans, I am confident that William Sinclair can be successful again."
On revenues down 11% to £18.7m, losses before exceptional items and tax swelled to £3.5m from £1.8m, with exceptional costs of £2.3m arising from Ellesmere issues.
There was also an exceptional impairment charge on properties of £2.2m.