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(Alliance News) - Nexus Infrastructure PLC on Friday reported double-digit revenue growth in the first half of its current financial year, but said it remains cautious going forward amid Covid-19 uncertainty.
In addition, Nexus said it has raised gross proceeds of GBP10 million through a placing of 7.1 million shares at a price of 140 pence per new share. The placing price represents a discount of 15% to the closing price on Thursday.
The AIM stock was trading 2.2% lower in London on Friday morning at 161.45p each, giving it a market capitalisation of GBP61.5 million.
Both existing and new institutional investors participated in the placing, Nexus said, which is expected to strengthen the company's balance sheet. Nexus said it believes that the placing will enable it to emerge from the Covid-19 crisis significantly stronger, allowing it to capitalise on opportunities and drive outperformance.
The placing has been conducted following a period of pre-marketing, and Numis Securities Ltd has acted as sole bookrunner.
The founders and certain directors, including Chief Executive Mike Morris, have participated in the placing with an aggregate investment of GBP528,000.
"We are very pleased by the level of support from both existing and new investors for this Placing. The funds raised significantly strengthen Nexus' balance sheet and liquidity position and enable us to continue investing in the business in-line with our growth strategy and allow us to capitalise on opportunities," Morris said.
Turning back to the results, the Braintree, England-based utilities connections and smart energy infrastructure services provider reported pretax profit of GBP3.4 million for the six months to the end of March, compared to GBP2.8 million a year earlier, as revenue grew by 19% to GBP84.2 million from GBP71.0 million.
"Nexus' operational and financial performance for the six months to March 31 was positive and in line with the board's expectations. However, the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic towards the end of first half severely impacted activity levels across our business with housebuilding customers pausing work and closing down sites," said Morris.
Nexus said it took "significant and immediate" actions taken to mitigate the unprecedented impact of Covid-19, including cutting of all non-essential capital expenditure, discretionary expenditures and implemented a recruitment freeze.
Looking forward, the company said its order book remains strong at GBP300 million compared to GBP311 million a year earlier, with a diverse range of work and customers. To date no orders have been cancelled due to Covid-19, Nexus noted.
Housebuilding customers are now returning to work, the company noted, which it is "positive" but "general caution" remains.
By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com
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