TruScreen falls short of goal, raises $1 million

Tuesday 9th July 2019

TruScreen secured $1 million before costs in its latest capital raising, falling short of its $2 million goal.

The cervical cancer test maker's shares were placed on a trading halt last Tuesday that was extended when the process took longer than initially expected. Trading will resume this morning.

Chief executive Martin Dillon said last week more time was needed to carry out a bookbuild in Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. At the time he said the firm was aiming to raise $2 million to cover working capital, inventory build-up and expenses, but could go up to $3 million if demand warranted.

The company today said it will issue 9,433,962 new ordinary shares at a price of 10.6 cents per share, an 18.5 percent discount to the last trading price on July 1, when the shares traded at 13 cents. It currently has about 216.9 million shares on issue.

The new shares will also be entitled to a free attaching option, exercisable at 13 cents per share and expiring after two years, TruScreen said.

The raising includes placement shares and attaching options worth $106,000 to be subscribed for by chairman Anthony Ho, if approved at the annual meeting on Aug. 27.

The new funds will be used for working capital as the business grows to meet the expanding demand from those countries where the company has established business, and for developing new markets.

TruScreen's primary focus is in China, where it has started large-scale evaluations with the women’s and children’s division of the Centre for Disease Control and with the China Obstetrics and Gynaecology Association.

According to the company, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide. An estimated 570,000 new cases are diagnosed annually and 311,000 women die every year from the disease.

TruScreen's key markets are low and middle-income nations that lack laboratory infrastructure, expert technicians and large-scale cervical cancer screening programmes. About 87 percent of deaths from cervical cancer occur in low and middle-income countries.

(BusinessDesk)

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