Incitec suspends dividend, to raise $675m

Incitec Pivot will raise up to $675m, bolstering its balance sheet, as half year profit lifted and it canned an interim dividend.

Workers at Incitec Pivot's Gibson Island ammonia plant in Brisbane. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

Incitec Pivot says it will raise up to $675 million of equity, bolstering its balance sheet amid the coronavirus pandemic after recently ditching plans to sell its fertilisers business.

Incitec Pivot said the raising comprises a $600 million underwritten placement of shares to institutional investors and an non-underwritten share purchase plan worth up to $75 million.

The placement will be conducted at $2.00 per security, representing an 8.7 per cent discount to Incitec Pivot’s closing share price on Friday.

“Incitec Pivot is taking pre-emptive action to strengthen the balance sheet to increase resilience in the current environment and provide financial flexibility to pursue disciplined organic growth opportunities,” said chairman Brian Kruger.

Details of the capital raising were announced by Incitec Pivot alongside a 52 per cent rise in net profit to $64.6 million in the six months through March. Directors of the company decided not to pay an interim dividend.

Dow Jones Newswires