Stilo International slides on decision to quit AIM index

(Sharecast News) - Stilo International shares dived on Friday after it proposed de-listing from AIM and said it swung to an interim loss, with trading expected to remain slow for the remainder of 2019.
Stilo's proposed exit from the index and re-registration as a private company remains subject to shareholder approval, but it said its decision was supported by majority shareholders Brewin Nominees, BDS Nominees and Giltspur Nominees, who hold an aggregate 13.4% stake, with Stilo having conditionally agreed to purchase their 15.3 million shares at 1p each.

Following this, the company said it will purchase up to 14.7 million shares from qualifying shareholders, representing 15% of the shares in issue, at 1p per share. This is a discount of approximately 31% over the closing mid-market price on Thursday.

The software and cloud services provider also said it had booked a loss before tax of £29,000 for the six months ended 30 June compared to a profit of £42,000 over the same period last year, as revenue dropped 10% to £638,000.

The company had warned investors back in May that sales were slower than planned and that a loss was expected for the half-year period, but Stilo's chairman said on Friday that those conditions may persist.

David Ashman said: "We are currently expecting trading to continue slowly for the remainder of 2019 and need to take measures to reduce our operating costs wherever possible. Of primary importance is the proposal to de-list from AIM and re-register as a private limited company, subject to shareholders' approval. This is the subject of an associated announcement issued immediately following the release of these interim results and is expected to generate potential annualised cost savings of over £120,000."

Ashman said additional cost-reduction activities, including organisational and management changes, are currently underway.

Stilo International shares were down 48.28% at 0.75p at 0903 BST.