Conversion of Loan Note & Reduction of Debt

RNS Number : 1463Q

Westminster Group PLC

10 October 2013

 



10 October 2013

Westminster Group Plc:

Conversion of Loan Note, Reduction in Debt and Issue of Warrants

Westminster Group Plc ('Westminster', 'the Group' or 'the Company'), the AIM listed supplier of advanced security and defence equipment, services and solutions worldwide, is pleased to announce a further reduction in its debt position and reduction in financing costs.

The Company has received notice from a holder of the 10% secured Convertible Loan Note ("CLN") which was issued on 19 June 2013, that it intends to convert £250,000 of the CLN into new ordinary share of 10 pence each. The conversion rate is 35 pence of CLN converts into 1 ordinary share of 10 pence nominal value. Therefore the Group will be issuing 714,286 new ordinary shares. This will reduce the Group's annual interest cost by a further £25,000.

Commenting on the debt reduction, Ian Selby, Chief Financial Officer of Westminster Group, said:

"The Group has been working actively to reduce its debt level.  Since the AGM on 19 June 2013, when it had outstanding debt of £3.29m (with an associated annual cash interest cost of £0.3m), the debt has been reduced such that I am now delighted to report that it has only £1.07m debt outstanding and has accordingly reduced its annual interest costs by 66% to just £0.1m."

Application has been made to the London Stock Exchange for the 714,286 ordinary shares ('New Shares') to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that the admission will become effective and that trading in the New Shares will commence on or around 16 October 2013 ("Admission").

Total Voting Rights

Following Admission of the 714,286 New Shares, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will comprise of 45,154,505 ordinary shares with voting rights. This figure of 45,154,505 ordinary shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

Separately under the terms of the Equity Financing Facility ("EFF") the Company is issuing the following warrants to Darwin Strategic Limited in accordance with the announcement of the EFF facility on 18 April 2013.  All warrants are priced at a premium of 15% to the drawdown price.

Event	Number of Warrants	Option Price
15 July 2013 EFF drawdown	3,600	43.7p
10 September 2013 EFF drawdown	25,200	63.25p
30 September 2013 EFF drawdown	7,200	80.5p

For further information please contact:

Westminster Group plc	Tel: [phone]
Peter Fowler (Chief Executive)
Ian Selby (Chief Financial Officer)
S. P. Angel Corporate Finance LLP (NOMAD + Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Stuart Gledhill/Katy Birkin
Winningtons Financial (Financial PR)	Tel: [phone]
Tom Cooper/Paul Vann	0797 122 1972

Notes:

Westminster Group plc is a leader in the supply of system solutions and products to the security, defence and safety markets worldwide.

Westminster's principal activity is the design, supply and ongoing support of advanced technology security solutions, encompassing a wide range of surveillance, detection, tracking and interception technologies and the provision of long term managed services contracts such as the management and running of complete security services and solutions in airports, ports and other such facilities together with the provision of manned services, consultancy and training services. The majority of its customer base, by value, comprises governments and government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGO's) and blue chip commercial organisations.  For further information please visit www.wi-ltd.com 

 

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