(AOF) – Argan (-7.37% to 72.90 euros) is among the biggest decliners in the SBF 120 after raising 150 million euros. The warehouse specialist has placed 2 million new shares with French and foreign institutional investors, at a price of 74 euros per share. The price represents a discount of 5.97% compared to the last closing price preceding the announcement of the transaction. The funds collected will be used for an investment plan of 380 million euros over the period 2024-2026.
More specifically, Argan has secured approximately 180 million euros of pre-let investments to be delivered over 2024, and plans 100 million euros of additional investments per year in 2025 and 2026, including 60 million euros secured and pre-let. -leased to be delivered in 2025. These investments should generate an average rate of return of 7%.
Over this period, its targeted disposal plan is now worth around 180 million euros following this operation compared to 380 million previously.
The latter will also make it possible to accelerate debt reduction. The LTV is expected at 44% at the end of 2024 compared to 48% previously and 49.7% at December 31, 2023. The net debt to Ebitda ratio is expected at around 9.5 at the end of 2024, compared to 11 at the end of 2023.
For Jefferies, this fundraising also aims to avoid a downgrade in Argan’s credit rating.
The capital increase will also have the impact of improving the free float, which should reach approximately 48% of the capital after the operation, compared to 44% today. “In order to strengthen the free float and liquidity of the shares, neither the Le Lan family nor Predica participated in the operation,” the company said. As a result, they hold 36.81% and 15.05% of the capital respectively.
If Jefferies considers the expansion of the free float favorably, it does not consider it a good thing that the main shareholder does not participate in the operation.
Argan anticipates strong growth in recurring net profit, group share, in the years to come. The company is revising its target upwards for the end of 2024 from 133 million euros to around 135 million euros (up 7% compared to 2023), and is targeting around 152 million euros for the end of 2025 ( up 13% compared to the end of 2024).
Finally, the warehouse specialist confirmed its intention to propose the payment of a dividend of 3.30 euros per share for 2024 results, an increase of 5% over one year.
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