Good morning, it's Paul here, with Friday's SCVR.

Here is the usual 7am placeholder, for reader comments as I write the main report throughout the morningday. Edit at 14:01 - please accept my apologies, I'm running late today. Estimated time of completion is 5pm. Edit at 16:41 - apologies again, today is a bit of a struggle. I'm back at the keyboard, and will continue until 7pm, to add a few more sections. Sorry for the inconvenience to you, I know it's irritating when reports are late. Today's report is now finished.

I'll focus today on fundraisings, because we're going to see a lot of them. Indeed, in sectors that have been shut down, e.g. retailers, hospitality, and travel, then equity fundraisings along with extended bank facilities, are going to be the only way many of these companies can survive. I think it makes sense for companies to raise funds now, whilst investors have some willingness to support companies. That may not be the case in 3 months' time.


Joules (LON:JOUL)

Share price: 80p (down 6% today, at 14:09)
No. shares: 89.4m +18.75m new shares = 108.2m
Market cap: £86.6m

(I no longer hold a long position in this share)

Placing of new shares

Joules is a distinctive fashion brand, which sells roughly 50:50 from physical stores, and online.

Last night the company announced that it intended to raise £15m in an institutional placing undertaken by Peel Hunt & Liberum.

This placing is going hand in hand with an extension of the bank facilities -

Agreement in principle from Barclays Bank plc to provide an additional £15m headroom on the Company's existing revolving credit facility ("RCF") for 12 months, conditional on the Company raising a minimum of £15m via the Placing, and subject to documentation.

That makes sense. If the bank is extending its exposure to the company, then it's perfectly reasonable for it to require shareholders to stump up fresh cash too. I think we'll see a lot of similar agreements in the coming weeks & months. After all, one of the key benefits of having a stock market listing, is to access the market for fresh funding. For this reason, banks tend to be more supportive of listed companies, than private companies.

Directors are putting in £1.2m, which is a decent level of support.

Covid-19 has obviously impacted the business to…

Unlock the rest of this article with a 14 day trial

Already have an account?
Login here