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(From FT Investor (Stories))
LONDON (FT.com) - There was contrasting fortunes for shareholders in small technology stocks on Tuesday with Patsystems shares soaring on a plan to return cash to shareholders, while Allied Optical Technology shares dropped on another profit warning.
Patsystems , the electronic trading software group, pleased the market on Tuesday when it announced a cash return of as much as GBP11.8m to shareholders even though it made first half losses of GBP5.1m and analysts expect 2002 full year losses of GBP6.3m.
In mid-afternoon trade Patsystems shares gained 50 per cent to 12p. This leaves the shares a long way off their market peak of about 180p in August 2000 and its float price of 107p in March 2000.
Patsystems has been getting through cash fast since its float, although the cash burn rate is slowing.
In June 2001, the company reported more than GBP30m on their balance sheet, but by June 2002 this had dropped to GBP17.45m, following the proposed cash return of between 8p to 9p per share their reserves will be markedly reduced.
However, Patsystems said trading had improved in the September quarter on the June quarter with a double-digit rise in end users and trading volumes. It said the improved performance was on the back of recently won contracts.