Carmat shares drop on discounted capital increase

Carmat SA

18/01/2024 08:57

** Shares in Carmat  ALCAR.PA  drop around 15% after the
French artificial heart maker announced on Wednesday evening a
discounted capital increase
    ** Carmat launched a capital increase of an initial amount
of 15 million euros ($16.32 million) which could be increased up
to 17.25 million euros
    ** Subscription price of 3.99 euros per share represents a
discount of 30% on the average share prices from the five
trading sessions preceding the announcement
    ** If the capital increase is successful, the company will
have enough cash until early May 2024    
    ** Large discount is mostly due to unfavourable sector
context and imminent cash need, says Portzamparc's analyst
Mohamed Kaabouni in a note
    ** However, recent news on Carmat's operations are
reassuring to the analyst in regards to the company scale-up
which starts to materialise 
    ** Degroof Petercam flags that on Tuesday, the company's
management said during its investor day it will launch capital
increases in 2024 for the total amount of 50 million euros 
    ** Degroof Petercam says the objective is to bridge the gap
until Carmat finds an anchor investor who could support them in
raising an additional about 150 million euros until breakeven is
reached by 2027
    ** "We do not consider this effort to be a walk in the park
and believe that commercial success of the Aeson artificial
heart in the coming years will be crucial in achieving this
goal," adds the brokerage
    
    
    
     


($1 = 0.9189 euros)

 (Reporting by Michal Aleksandrowicz)
 ((michal.aleksandrowicz@tr.com))