MENZIES, the Scottish aviation giant, has announced it is to move to raise £22 million to allow it to “take advantage of current market conditions and accelerate the delivery of its strategic objectives”.

The raise will come through a combination of a non-pre-emptive share placing, a subscription by directors and senior managers of the group for approximately £5.3m and a retail offer of new ordinary retail shares of up to £1m.

The Edinburgh-based company separately provided an update on the its current trading, financial position and outlook, which it said painted an encouraging start to the year and the group “is well placed to meet or exceed management’s underlying profit expectations for 2021”.

READ MORE: Menzies in carbon neutral target

The board expects liquidity to stay well in excess of £100m over the year, it said.

Philipp Joeinig, chairman and chief executive, said: “Our actions in recent years to restructure the business are already delivering improved profitability, despite aviation activity levels continuing to be well below pre-Covid 19 levels.

"This is very encouraging as we look towards our profitability in the years ahead."

The Herald: Herald Newsletter daily banner

He also said: “Our pipeline of acquisition and joint venture opportunities has accelerated in recent weeks and we now have some very exciting opportunities to expand our network across all product categories.

"Current market conditions mean that adding these opportunities now, represents a compelling opportunity to create significant shareholder value.”

It said it has been bolstered by strong air cargo demand, new business wins, cost savings and ongoing government support programmes.

Shares closed down 11p, or 3.42 per cent, at 310.5p.