Inapa shares tank by 96% after CMVM lifts share trading suspension
Portuguese paper distributor Inapa saw shares plummet by 96% after the local securities regulator lifted a suspension on share trading.
In the past few days the insolvent company which cannot meet a €12 million shortfall in its cashflow to meet expenses at its German subsidiary, had been in rescue negotiations with the Japanese paper distribution company JPP Group which so far have been inconclusive.
JPP said on July 26 that it was interested in presenting a binding declaration to purchase Inapa.
Inapa has 37% of its capital dispersed in shares which have fallen 96% to €0,0012 as nearly around 2 million shares flooded the market by 8.5am in an investor panic selloff, wiping out around €14.8 million from the company’s market capitalisation.
Inapa currently has a stock market capitalisation of €1.6 million after shares recovered slightly over Tuesday, at €0.0028, which nevertheless meant a fall of 91% on 19 July, the last previous day of normal trading before the suspension on 22 July.
Trading was suspended after the company announced the “imminent insolvency” of its German subsidiary after the Portuguese government, its main shareholder, refused to stump up a €12 million loan to the company to save the subsidiary, which brought the rest of the company down.
The company’s shareholders are the State through its company Parpública, followed by Nova Expressão with 10.85% and Novo Banco with 6.55%. The remaining 37.71% is dispersed on the stock market in the hands of small investors.
With the lifting of the share trading suspension, the CMVM has given time for investors intending to sell their shares to do so, avoiding the type of situation seen a decade ago with the failed banks BES and Banif where shareholders had to keep their shares in portfolio for years paying recurrent charges on them.
In terms of market capitalisation, Inapa lost €13.89 million on Tuesday while since the start of the year shares suffered an accumulated loss of around 90%.
