Point-of-care business Ekf Diagnostics Holdings PLC (LON:EKF) gave a message of progress at its latest annual general meeting on Thursday as it announced it aims to be debt free in 2017.
The company said it has made good progress during the first quarter of 2016, with sales and underlying earnings (EBITDA) “ahead of budget and substantially ahead of last year on a like-for-like basis”.
Shares however, fell more than 10%, making it one of the day’s largest fallers, as it also unveiled the placing of 42.2mln new shares by way of an accelerated book build to repay its debt to North Atlantic Smaller Companies Investment Trust PLC.
It is part of a strategic review undertaken since the firm appointed its new non-executive chairman, Christopher Mills.
During this time, EKF has already seen some £250,000 of annualised expenses taken out of the business, but Mills said that “working capital remains a priority”.
As a result, the company will raise cash, which will go towards its debt, as well as freeing up banking facilities.
“It is expected that the company will become debt free during the course of 2017,” Mills said.