Investors see bright spots in the gloom over Capita

A highly dilutive, deeply discounted issue of new shares has raised £701m and perhaps some much-needed confidence at Capita. The outsourcing group said that it was issuing three new shares for every two held by investors, with the new stock on offer to shareholders at a mere 70p, compared with the 159¾p at which they closed last week. The money was raised as the company announced £850m of writedowns in the value of the business and restructuring costs that sent it to a loss of £513m for 2017. It further warned that while at an underlying level it was profitable to the tune of £380m last year, things would get worse before they got better. It forecast profits of between £270m and £300m for this year, a decline of about 30%. The rights issue, which had been scheduled for Thursday but was brought forward to Monday, will be voted on by shareholders on May 9, with chief executive Jon Lewis saying he expected to have the money by the beginning of June, according to the Telegraph. Click here for the full Times article (£) Click here for the full Telegraph article Click here for the full FT article (£)