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Shares in embattled UK healthcare software firm iSoft fell 15.7 percent to fresh lows amid concern that the proposed sale or break-up of the company had stalled, before recovering on Wednesday.
An iSoft spokesman said talks with interested parties were continuing and still in their infancy.
“We only announced that we were in discussions three weeks ago so it’s still far too early to be commenting on how those talks are going,” he added.
Shares in iSoft, which fell 12 percent on Tuesday, slumped 15.7 percent to 29-1/2 pence on Wednesday, before recovering to trade unchanged at 35 pence around midday, valuing the business at around 81 million pounds. Traders said the declines came amid concerns about the fate of the potential sale talks.
About 10.1 million iSoft shares had changed hands, around three times the average daily volume over the past month.
The iSoft spokesman said the firm did not plan to give any update on trading before announcing its first-half results, which last year came in December.
The company’s value has plunged more than 92 percent in the last year, battered by a string of problems and profit warnings related to a 6.2 billion pound technology upgrade project for Britain’s National Health Service.
One London-based trader said iSoft was running out of options as it attempts to avoid being hit by a hike in interest payments in the new year, agreed when it renegotiated borrowing terms with lenders in August.
ISoft has secured funding until November 2007, but securing longer-term financing remains a challenge, as it has already booked revenues for work it is yet to deliver, a move which forced the firm to restate its past accounts in June.
“There’s a very limited audience to buy a stock like this which hasn’t had its accounts signed off... They’ve either got to raise money quickly or they’re doomed,” the trader added.
Last month, iSoft said it was pursuing sale talks with potential buyers who had shown an interest in the firm.
Auditors Deloitte have not signed off the firm’s accounts, while the UK financial watchdog, the Financial Services Authority, and the Accountancy Investigation and Discipline Board are probing past accounting irregularities at the Manchester-based company. |
