Thursday June 11, 09:16 AM
UPDATE 2-Wogen gets offer approach from management, shares up
By Julie Crust
LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) - Metals trader Wogen Plc (LSE: WGN.L - news) said on Thursday it had received an initial offer approach from its executive directors and the company's co-founder, Colin Williams, lifting the company's shares.
An offer, if made, will be in cash and priced at 36 pence per share.
The shares were up 33 percent at 32 pence at 0749 GMT.
In a separate statement, the specialty metals and minerals trader said it swung to a pretax loss of 3.0 million pounds ($4.9 million) in the six months to end-March from a 2.3 million pound profit in the year-earlier period.
It also scrapped its interim dividend.
'The deterioration in specialty metal markets that began in the second half of last year continued throughout the interim period,' said Chief Executive Allan Kerr. 'The challenging market conditions arising from the global economic downturn are expected to continue for a considerable time.'
The AIM-listed company said 'volumes and trading remain low', and that challenging market conditions with poor visibility make it difficult to predict revenues for the full year.
Its net borrowings had been reduced to 2.8 million pounds at end-March from 30.6 million at the end of September.
The management team, led by Damian Brousse, controls about 61 percent of Wogen.
Wogen said it had set up a committee of independent directors, led by chairman Mike Hutchinson, which is in talks with the management team.
($1=.6101 Pound)
(Reporting by Julie Crust; editing by Jon Loades-Carter and Simon Jessop) Keywords: WOGEN/OFFER
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