One of yesterday’s rats and mice managed to postpone the bad news.
McAleese Group asked for trading in shares to be suspended after telling the ASX that it was deferring its interim financial results because of a financial restructure and possible equity raising.
“The company is in discussions with its lenders in relation to a number of alternative recapitalisation proposals, including with external providers of new capital which would involve those parties acquiring the company’s existing debt and the potential issuance of new equity,” McAleese said in the statement to the ASX before trading opened yesterday morning.
McAleese said it expected to update the market on the discussions by next Monday, March 7.
It said it would release its first-half results when there was “greater certainty” about the outcome of its restructuring.
In other words, the company’s financial position is so poor, that it can only remain listed with the revamp and support from its lenders for the changes and a new capital injection.
McAleese had previously told investors it would release results in late February and take up to $55 million in write-downs against the carrying value of its assets.
McAleese said the recapitalisation proposals would reduce its debt and would not affect its trade creditors or customers.
McAleese’s stock has slumped since its initial public offering two years ago, when its shares floated at $1.47 per share, due to a fatal accident involving one of its Cootes tankers in Sydney (the driver was acquitted by a Sydney court of charges relating to that crash) and some dud purchases which exposed the company to the slide in the resources sector.
That has seen McAleese forced to renegotiate contracts with some resources customers, one of which is a profit-sharing agreement with Atlas Iron, a WA miner that was forced to temporarily shut its mines last year before negotiating new arrangements with its contractors.
The company’s shares closed at 5.8 cents last Friday – the shares have fallen 76% in the past year.
