Serco's £555m rights issue wins backing of shareholders
Shares in outsourcing company Serco dipped into the red on Friday after shareholders approved a rights issue, throwing their weight behind the board's plans to turn the group around.
FTSE 250
19,824.16
16:59 26/04/24
FTSE 350
4,470.09
16:59 26/04/24
FTSE All-Share
4,423.59
17:14 26/04/24
Serco Group
181.90p
16:40 26/04/24
Support Services
10,641.76
16:59 26/04/24
The £555m rights issue, which nearly all shareholders voted in favour of, was announced last month alongside a refinancing to primarily lower Serco's debt.
Net debt stood at £682m at the end of 2014, following a year in which it made a £1.35bn loss, compared with a profit of £146m the year before.
The company received valid acceptances in respect of 520.26m new ordinary shares, out of the 529.27m that were on offer, representing 94.7%. The one-for-one rights issue was priced at 101p per share.
Serco said that underwriters had found subscribers for the remaining shares not taken up, representing 5.3% of new ordinary shares, at a price of 142p.
The stock was down 2.8% at 142.6p by 15:20.