The Reject Shop has requested for a trading halt with hopes to raise $40 million in new capital that will help fund for the discount chain’s plan to roll-out 40 more new stores in FY2014.
The $40 million equity raising has been structured as a $30 million placement underwritten by Macquarie Capital and a non-underwritten share purchase plan to raise the additional $10 million.
Managing director Chris Bryce said the overall trading has been solid with continued positive comparable store sales for the half year, which provides them confidence for potential future stores.
“We have a strong pipeline of new store opportunities for the next year and although the absolute number and timing of opening new stores is yet to be finalised, we believe we are well placed to significantly expand our presence nationwide,†he said.
The company is schedule to already open a company record of 40 stores in FY2013 compared to the recent historic average of 20 new stores annually. To date, the company has opened 35 including 18 new stores during the second half. A further five new stores are currently in the pipeline and are scheduled to take the total number of stores to over 270 by June 2013.
Should the company achieve its target rollout in FY2013 and FY2014, the total number of stores by 30 June 2014 will exceed 300 stores nationwide.
“We have an opportunity to accelerate our long term growth plans and significantly increase our overall store footprint. Over the past few years we have built our infrastructure, both in terms of physical capacity and organisational strength, in order to support our long term aim of building a portfolio of 400 stores nationwide,†Bryce said.