Tadpole Technology Plc, the Cambridge, UK manufacturer of RISC-based notebook computers and systems continues to walk on water as far as the investment community is concerned: the company reported pre-tax loss of ?1.3m, for the six months to March 31, announced a fund-raising exercise, as it had warned earlier it would do – and the shares danced for joy. The company is seeking to raise ?6.8m of new money net of expenses with a placing and open offer of 2.75m new shares, to raise ?6.8m. The discount is modest – the price is 260 pence against a price in the market of 284.5 pence on Tuesday night – but looks rather better after the shares took off on the news. The new shares have been initially placed with employees and institutional investors. The money will fund the group’s anticipated working capital and capital expenditure needs for, according to chief executive, George Grey, the significant increase in business levels caused by the new Sparcbook 3 and the RS/6000 Model N40 notebook workstation for IBM Corp, both available since March. The Sparcbook differs from earlier versions as it will have a two to three year product life because it is upgradable, and hence user investment will be protected. Tadpole regards the six-month period as one of investment of effort and resources in the future success of the group and the company is buoyant about the future, with an intention to do significantly better than last year, which saw pre-tax profits of ?749,000. The company has started the second half of the financial year with orders of ?7.4m up 44% on the same time last year and yesterday announced a strategic agreement with Digital Equipment Corp for an notebook using DEC’s Alpha AXP chip (see front). Grey expects the DEC notebooks to contribute to Tadpole’s 1995 fiscal year. The combined effect of all this news was to move Tadpole shares up 30 pence to around 312 pence, for Grey, recognition that Tadpole is on track for the rest of the year.
