blur Group PLC (LON:BLUR) was a top riser today, with its shares jumping over 12% higher on news the firm will be fully funded for the next two years after bringing in a further £1.2mln via a placing - cash that will allow it to enact its turnaround strategy.
Brokers today placed 30mln shares in the group at 4p each, representing around 17% of blur's enlarged share capital, with the placing shares coming with a warrant attached to subscribe for a further two shares at 6p each in the next year.
READ: blur Group slashes losses; plans strategic review
In late afternoon trading, blur Group shares were 9%, or 0.38p higher at 4.5p.
The fundraising follows a strategic review at the company, which is pioneering an online marketplace for goods and services that helps businesses save money.
The company is in cost-cutting mode and has also radically re-shaped the board, bringing in new leadership.
READ: Blur Group 's new chairman takes over as board restructured after £1.75mln fundraising
In July, the company raised £1.75mln of new capital in a placing at 1.75p.
“Going forward we are focused on converting new Enterprise customers whilst continuing to develop the blur procurement as a service cloud platform including A.I. enhancements as we scale,” said chairman David Rowe.
“The board is keen that the business has the resources to execute plans over the longer term and so we have taken steps to ensure that the business is fully funded for approximately two years."
Released alongside the news of the cash injection were the firm’s interim results, which essentially spelled out the need for fresh funds.
The company had £720,000 (US$980,000) in the bank at the end of June and it spent £1.38mln (US$1.87ml) in the six months to end June – though it must be said that the figure was much reduced compared with the same period last year.
The operating loss narrowed 42% to £909,000 (US$1.23mln).
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