TED Baker today confirmed its ousted founder Ray Kelvin is no longer its largest shareholder, after taking part in a £105 million rescue fundraiser.
The troubled fashion brand this month launched the raiser, and today said it had secured £95 million through a share placing and £10 million in an offer for subscription, at deeply discounted 75p a share. Shares – which were more than £30 in March 2018 - fell 5p to 122p today.
Kelvin agreed to cut his stake by 55% to 16%, making Tosca Fund – the hedge fund run by Martin “the Rottweiler” Hughes – its biggest shareholder with 26% of the company.
Ted is attempting to battle back from a string of profit warnings, Kelvin’s hug-gate scandal and Covid.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: “The company has an uphill struggle in the current retail environment, however underlying profits in its last fiscal year did come in at £4.8m, despite the various write downs, while total revenues fell 1.4% to £630.5m. Gross margins are also above 50% at 55.6% as per its last annual report.
“On the plus side, its store footprint is narrower than some of its peers, and the business rates holiday will also help on the margins, however that won’t help much if consumers stop spending.”
Earlier this year the company sold and leased back its head office in London for the sum of £78.75 million, with £72 million of that cash used to pay down debts.
