Parkmead, the North Sea-focused oil and gas group, is to propose a 15 for one share consolidation at its annual meeting to reflect its "considerable progress over the past 12 to 18 months".
The group said it believed the consolidation of share capital would result in a more appropriate number of shares in issue for a company of Parkmead's size, "and may also help to make the new ordinary shares more attractive to investors going forward".
The AIM-listed group's shares were at 1.62p in October 2010, when Dana Petroleum creator Tom Cross announced his plans to grow it into a significant business. They spiked to an extraordinary 32p over the following 10 weeks, valuing Parkmead at almost £300 million though it had minimal assets.
During the past 18 months, as Parkmead has been acquiring assets, the shares have traded within a 12p to 15p range. They closed down 0.25p at 13.75p yesterday, valuing the group at £142m.
The annual report just published says total assets grew by 133% last year, but does not put an equivalent value on them, though net assets are shown as £37.3m against £12.3m for 2012.
The group reported a pre-tax loss widening from £4.9m to £5.3m in the year to June 30.
Earlier this week, Parkmead reported a gas find in the Pharos field, where it holds a 20% stake alongside the 35% held by Dana, whose sale to Korean National Oil Corporation in 2010 for £1.9 billion netted founder Mr Cross around £57million.
Parkmead said that with shares of low denominations, "small absolute movements in the share price can represent large percentage movements, resulting in high volatility".
The bid/offer spread could also be disproportionate to the share price and to the detriment of shareholders.
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