ARL.L Regulatory News (ARL)

15 Feb 2006 07:01

SMC Group Plc15 February 2006 SMC Group Plc ("SMC", "the Group" or "the Company") Placing of New Ordinary Shares SMC, the architecture and design business, today announces that the Company hasraised £1.72 million, before expenses, by way of a Placing (the "Placing") of1,707,400 new ordinary shares of 0.5p each in the Company (the "PlacingShares"). The Placing has been completed at a price of 101p per Placing Share. The placing was substantially oversubscribed and was taken up by new and existing institutional investors, thereby widening the shareholder base. Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the Placing Shares tobe admitted to trading on AIM. Dealings in Placing Shares are expected tocommence on 21 February 2006. The proceeds of the Placing will be utilised to increase working capital. Commenting on the Placing, Stewart McColl, SMC's Chief Executive, said: "The Board is delighted with the level of investor support in this Placing,particularly from a number of new institutional investors. Our shares wereadmitted to AIM in June 2005 at 43p and we are determined to continue to delivervalue for our growing number of shareholders." - ends - For further information please contact: SMC Group Plc Tel: 44 (0) 20 7495 5335Stewart McColl Noble & Company Limited Tel: 44 (0) 20 7763 2200Matthew Hall Bell Pottinger Corporate & Financial Tel: 44 (0) 20 7861 3232David Rydell/Geoff Callow Notes to Editors SMC Group Plc is the holding company for a group of architects and designers. Ithas established expertise in a broad range of sectors, including residential,retail, industrial, workplace, transportation, leisure and education. On 3rdFebruary 2006 the Group announced the acquisition of Ian Penrose Architects andCovell Matthews Architects. These additions to the Group have enabled SMC toexpand its national coverage throughout England, with offices in London,Warwick, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Liverpool, Lancaster, Exeter, Plymouthand Cambridge. The Group's core strategy is to create an architectural group with the scale andexpertise to access the most profitable schemes across a range of sectors andgeographical locations. The Group intends to focus on its organic growth,increasing its share of the UK market and securing larger, higher marginprojects. The Group plans to complement this organic growth withearnings-enhancing acquisitions in order to consolidate its geographic andsector coverage. On 5th September 2005 the Group announced its maiden interim results for the sixmonths ended 30th June 2005. SMC reported turnover of £5.4m (an increase of 47%compared to the same period in 2004) and profit before tax of £1.1m (an increaseof 110% compared to the same period in 2004). The Group also announced plans tointroduce a maiden dividend in June 2006. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange