Tenon eyes LSE main board
Tenon Group, the AIM-listed accountancy consolidator, has said it will move up to a full listing on the London Stock Exchange - but not until September 2003 at the earliest.
The original intention had been for the company to make the switch this year, but chief executive Ian Buckley admitted that would no longer be possible and could be as late as March 2004.
‘Until we have delivered this year’s results we are not going to get an opportunity to move up to the main board,’ Buckley told Accountancy Age.
Last month Tenon managed to scrape into its revised target area for full-year profits – Buckley at the time revealed his disappointment at not achieving better results as the consolidator group announced a pre-tax profit before goodwill amortisation of £678,000 on a £55m turnover.
The figure was in line with expectations, but well below the original £6m anticipated before the company was forced to make a profits warning last December.
‘The original intention was to do it this year, but we won’t get to a full listing until next year, or March 2004 at the latest,’ Buckley said.
The chief executive was bullish about prospects for Tenon’s share price, which has nearly halved in value from 100p when it first floated on AIM to an all-time low of 55p last week. ‘When we deliver the next six months’ results the share price will tick back up, and then again when the full year’s results are delivered,’ he said.
