Oil and gas engineering business Plexus Holdings PLC (LON:POS) is to raise £6mln to bolster its finances following a challenging 12 months for the sector.
The company – which supplies specialist wellhead equipment to oil and gas companies – will raise the money through a placing at 65p.
Plexus said it “has not been immune” to the declining oil price and wants the financial flexibility to support its current projects, as well as allowing it to take advantage of opportunities that may arise.
“We view the successful raising of £6mln as testament to Plexus’ standing as the provider of superior…rental wellhead equipment to the international oil and gas industry,” said chief executive Ben van Bilderbeek.
“The funds raised today will ensure that [the company] will be able to continue to invest in our proprietary technology and products during the current oil and gas down cycle, and at the same time support our new partners in overseas markets such as Russia.”
Plexus was upbeat about its future prospects, pointing to the doubling in price of oil from its January lows to around US$50 per barrel currently, as well as expectations that the price will continue to rise through 2016 and into 2017.
As the world becomes more environmentally aware, van Bilderbeek added that “Plexus stands to play a major part in [the] transition” from dirty fossil fuels, such as coal, to cleaner hydrocarbons, such as natural gas.
The whole of the oil and gas sector has been affected by a plummeting oil price and global economic uncertainties in the last year.