Standard Platforms Holdings Plc’s apparently inevitable decline into the mire has at least been temporarily slowed, as the Blackburn company put in first half figures that cut losses to ?35,640 from ?382,695 last time. Indeed, without the whopping ?31,000 interest charge, the company’s loss was only ?4,806 on turnover of ?749,995. Peter Dicks attributes the reduction in the loss to the restructuring of July 1993 that saw closure of its Andover office and the halving of the workforce. But before you rush out to put your shirt on Standard, Dicks was less buoyant about the future. He does not expect the improvement in the trading performance to continue into the second half of the year, as the company requires immediate investment in personnel and product development. The desperate measures proposed by the company (CI No 2,420) of a rights issue, loan stock conversion, capital reduction, share option scheme and major board changes were all adopted by the shareholders at an extraordinary general meeting on June 9. Peter Dicks was appointed chairman and the rights issue closed on June 30 with a take-up of 95% from the existing shareholders. No dividend will be paid.
