Provider of drilling services, capital equipment and consumable products, Boart Longyear Ltd
(ASX:BLY) says it has raised approximately $187 million through the retail component of its one for one accelerated non-renounceable pro-rata entitlement offer.
The company says it received applications for approximately 258.1 million new shares including applications from eligible retail shareholders under the retail entitlement offer for 38 million new shares in excess of their entitlements.
Boart says the shortfall in the retail entitlement offer is approximately $117.5 million which represents 435.2 million new shares.
Boart says the funds raised, together with those from the other components of the offer would be used to repay existing debt.
Following the offer the company says its pro-forma net debt as at June 30 2009 is expected to be US$166 million. Boart Longyear posted a profit of US$156.7 million in 2008.
New Zealand based retailer the Warehouse Group Ltd (ASX:WHS) has reported a fall in net profit for the 53 weeks to August 2 impacted by charges related to the exit from its fresh food and liquor.
Net profit after tax came to NZ$76.8 million down from NZ$90.8 million for the same period a year ago.
The result was impacted by a NZ$7.4 million post tax charge relating to the exit from fresh food and liquor, while its result the year before benefited from the reversal of warranty provisions of NZ$7.2 million.
Group sales fell 0.8 per cent to NZ$1.72 billion, while same-store-sales dropped 0.4 per cent.
CEO Ian Morrice says the market for big ticket items was particularly difficult with most of Warehouse Stationery’s sales reduction attributable to office furniture and technology products.
Looking ahead Mr Morrice says for the next 12 months the company will focus on growth through product and format development.
The Warehouse Group declared a final dividend of NZ5.5 cents a share. Looking at the past five years, the Warehouse Group’s best result was in 2007.
Gold and base metal explorer Westgold Resources Ltd (ASX:WGR) has come out of a trading halt today after last night announcing that drilling results at its Rover project in the Northern territory has revealed another gold bonanza.
The Rover project is located 100 kilometres south west of Tenant Creek in the Northern Territory.The results showed a seven metre intersection that graded 185 grams of gold a tonne.
Westgold says the stunning results were accompanied by high-grade copper intervals of three metres at 3.6 per cent copper.
Managing director Andy Beckwith says the results reinforce the significance of the Western Zone discovery at Rover and highlight the presence of a classic Tennant Creek style high-grade copper, gold zone in this area.
Mr Beckwith says the bonanza gold zones in these Tennant Creek iron oxide copper/gold systems are small targets but fantastically rich, and that it now appears the company has found two within the Rover system. Westgold Resources posted a loss in 2008.
