Portmeirion (AIM:PMP) shares dropped near 40%, to 56p, to account for a new conditional equity raise of £17 million, which is intended to give the homeware brands group fresh balance-sheet firepower as it pushes ahead with its “Portmeirion: Elevated” turnaround plan.
The AIM-listed owner of Spode, Portmeirion, Royal Worcester, Pimpernel, Wax Lyrical and Nambé placed 34 million new shares at 50p each, and the funding was "upsized" (increasing from the initially announced £15 million) amid what it described as significant oversubscription.
The issue price represents a discount of about 47%, and a number of directors are participating in the raise (totting up to £250,000), and the new placing shares will represent around 70.8% of the company’s enlarged capital.
Portmeirion also launched a separate retail offer to raise up to £2 million at the same price, giving eligible existing UK retail shareholders the chance to participate via the BookBuild platform. Net proceeds from the retail offer are expected to be used to further reduce FY26 year-end net debt.
The company said the proceeds from the placing will be used mainly to transform the balance sheet and support completion of a new five-year £36 million asset-based lending facility with Leumi UK Group Limited.
It has earmarked about 80% of placing proceeds for that purpose, with 10% for investment in its recently in-housed US Amazon business and 10% for small bolt-on acquisition opportunities.
Non-executive chairman Peter Tracey said the placing marked “a major step forward” towards the group’s “Fortress Balance Sheet” objective, adding that the strengthened financial position would allow Portmeirion to focus on delivering its transformation plan.
