Share slump for Snoozebox as its losses grow
SHARES in Snoozebox fell out of bed yesterday after the portable hotel provider said it was raising a further £11m as its annual pre-tax losses doubled.
The Aim-listed firm said that while turnover rose 80 per cent to £6.7m and margins improved in 2013, the cost of growing the business had sent losses to £9.4m.
Snoozebox, which started life as a temporary hotel during a race event at Silverstone, said it hopes to launch a new version of its portacabin accommodation later this year. The group is yet to make a pre-tax profit.
“Notwithstanding the turbulence within the company, I am pleased to report that the delivery of the events programme went well and that, consistently, the feedback from our guests was positive,” said chairman David Morrison. Founder Robert Breare, who left the company in April 2013, died in July aged 60.
Panmure Gordon is advising on the share placing, which is raising £10m with an option to raise an additional £1m. At 10p per share, the placing is at a 13 per cent discount to the firm’s previous closing share price.
The cash injection comes less than a year after a £9.4m fundraising to recapitalise the firm, and two years after Snoozebox joined London’s junior market with a £12m initial public offering at 40p per share.
Shares closed down 11.9 per cent at 10.12p yesterday.