Coronado first, but is Flight Centre next to raise?

Coronado first, but is Flight Centre next to raise? Picture: AAP

Expectations are growing that Coronado Global Resources will be raising equity at between 60c and 70c per share as it remained in a trading halt on Thursday night.

The company’s shares were placed in a halt on Wednesday ahead of a placement to secure up to US$150m through Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Citi.

Sources told DataRoom they had been told the price range for the raise - first tipped by DataRoom - was shaping up to be in the ‘mid sixties’ after its shares last traded at 82c.

However, weighing most on investors’ minds is whether the coking and thermal coal miner will raise enough funds, rather than the price.

Meetings for the raise were being carried out on Thursday to lock in the equity and some think that it will be largely hedge funds that take up the slack.

Earlier, it was expected that the raise could be at a 10 per cent discount to the last traded share price, rather than about 20 per cent.

It is understood that its major shareholder, Energy and Minerals Group, which holds almost 80 per cent of the stock, will not participate.

Coronado is in need of cash, with its market value at $807.4m and net debt of $US404.9m.

The miner, with assets in Australia and the US, delivered its results on Tuesday, handing down a $US123.2m loss.

In May, it received a waiver agreement from its lenders until February after its value has drifted lower from the $3.87bn Coronado was worth when it listed about two years ago.

Shares have suffered from weaker sentiment towards coal and the raise also comes at a time that both lenders and institutional investors are shying away from any company with exposure to the commodity due to concerns about its impact on the environment.

While Coronado was one raise being discussed around the market on Thursday, expectations are growing that travel agency Flight Centre may once again have to tap the market after it flagged a 2020 financial year loss of between $825m and $875m ahead of its results released on August 27.

The group raised $562m in April at a 27.3 per cent discount to its last closing price of $9.91 through Macquarie Capital, UBS and Luminis Partners.

Shares closed at $12.28, up more than 5 per cent.