BUCHAREST (Romania), October 20 (SeeNews) – Romanian fertilizer producer Amonil said on Tuesday it will seek to raise its capital by 58.74 million lei ($20.4 million/13.7 million euro) from the current 111.3 million lei, following a proposal made by one of its minority shareholders.
The company is going to issue 587.4 million new shares with an issue price equal to their face value of 0.10 lei each. Shareholders on record as of December 14 will be able to subscribe for new shares according to their subscription rights. The unsubscribed stock will be offered for subscription to any interested investor, Amonil said in a statement.
The hike is pending approval by Amonil's shareholders at a meeting on November 24.
Cyprus-based Salink Limited, holding a 13.54% stake in Amonil, proposed last month to raise the company’s capital by 58.7 million lei to repay Amonil's debt and avoid selling the fertiliser maker's fixed assets.
Chemgas Holding Corporation, which is Amonil’s main creditor, however declined to postpone the debt enforcement procedure and renegotiate the debt and acquired 57.13 million lei worth of Amonil’s assets, including a production platform. Now Amonil plans to hire the sold production facility in order to continue operations.
Bucharest-listed Amonil was traded 1.49% up at 0.0205 lei by 0906 GMT on Tuesday.
Amonil reported a half-year net profit of 8.6 million, down from 21.3 million lei a year earlier. In mid-June the company resumed production of ammonia and urea after halting it at the beginning of March due to low market demand.
(1 euro = 4.2909 Romanian lei)