Eve Sleep crashes on discounted fundraising

Shares in Eve Sleep crashed on Thursday as it emerged that the mattress retailer's planned fundraising, announced last month, would actually be at a big discount rather than the "significantly" higher price it had talked about previously.

In an update on its plans to raise £15m of new equity, the company said Woodford Investment Management plans to subscribe for up to £8m of new shares at 10p each, while chairman Paul Pindar will subscribe for around £1m.

Chief executive officer James Sturrock has indicated that he intends to subscribe for approximately £20,000 worth of shares, while existing investor Channel 4, which provides advertising services to the company, will subscribe for £900,000.

Eve Sleep shares were down 19.7% at 11.35p at 1000 GMT, as the 10p per share fundraising price represents a 29% discount to the close price on Wednesday and a stark contrast to the company's claims in November that existing shareholders would buy in at a "significantly higher" price than the prevailing share price.

The group also said on Thursday that since its update on 15 November, trading has continued to be strong, with Black Friday in particular "very good".

Unaudited revenues for the 11 months to 30 November 2018 were approximately £33m and the company continues to expect that it will deliver revenues above market expectations for the year to the end of 31 December 2018.

Chief executive James Sturrock said: "Whilst the fundraise is not yet completed and is subject to a short delay, the board remains confident of delivering the investment from existing, new and potentially strategic investors which is required to deliver the business strategy.

"We look forward to putting the business on a stronger footing with a view to establishing eve as a leading sleep and well-being brand."