On Monday, Archos announced the launch of its €1 million capital increase, an operation which comes at a time when the French group is finalizing its transformation.

However, this announcement caused the share price to plunge by more than 7% on Monday morning, making it one of the biggest decliners on the Paris market at the start of the week.

The issue of new shares with shareholders' pre-emptive rights will be based on a unit price of 0.043 euros per share, with a parity of 10 new shares for every 15 held.

The management team has committed to more than half (51.7%) of the capital increase, with the aim of building a "core group" of shareholders, putting an end to alternative financing and halting dilution.

However, the subscription price shows a 38.7% discount to the last quoted price, with a dilutive effect that looks set to be significant.

A shareholder who held 1% of the capital before the capital increase and did not subscribe to it would thus see his stake reduced to 0.6%.

The capital increase comes at a time when Archos says it is now focused on its strategic plan, centered around its consumer division (new Android tablets), its professional and defense division (Logic Instrument and Elexo) and a healthcare division focused on four 'medtechs'.

With the end of recourse to convertible bonds and dilutive instruments, the Group expects to achieve sales of €40 million and profitable Ebitda in 2024, before exceeding sales of €50 million in 2025, while significantly improving profitability.

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