Stock Takes: Cash injection needed for Orion Health?

Orion Health chief executive Ian McCrae rings the bell for its share market listing November 2014.Photo/Supplied.

Questions are being raised about whether Orion Health will need to raise more cash after its poor half-year result.

The health software developer posted a first-half loss of $25.9 million in the six months to September 30 this week — up from its $18m loss a year earlier.

The company's sales were down from $104.2m to $80.9m and its operating loss of $25m was at the top end of its $20m to $25m forecast.

Stephen Bennie, fund manager at Castle Point, said it looked like Orion Health was in dire need of additional capital.

"They appear to be on a collision course with their banks in the next few months. Revenues are going backwards, so cash burn has accelerated.

Bennie said broking analysts were having to put through big downgrades after this week's result and there was really not a lot to like about it.

"Another cash raise fairly early in the New Year is looking like an odds-on certainty."

If that happened it would be the second capital raising for the company in a year.

Orion Health raised $32m through a rights issue earlier this year.

In May the company began a review to search for additional sources of capital, including minority investments in the company.

The company said the review was ongoing and was expected to take additional time as the group continued to evaluate alternatives.

The company had total cash and cash equivalents of $16.1m as at September 30, compared with $24.2m a year earlier.

Orion has fallen a long way since its healthy beginning on the stock exchange.

It had a $5.70 issue price and closed at $6.27 on it first day of trading in November 2014 valuing the company at more than $1 billion.

But its fortunes have fallen a long way since then. In the last year alone the company's share price has nearly halved and its markets capitalisation is about $172m.

Yesterday its share price closed on 91c.

Ups and downs

Three smaller company stocks have reported strong half-year results this week only to find their share prices falling in the aftermath.

Eroad, Trilogy and Pacific Edge all saw their share prices rise significantly ahead of results announcements on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Eroad's shares rose from $2.75 to $3.36 between November 20 and 27.

But despite the company reporting record sales growth in its New Zealand and North American businesses its share price fell after the result.

Trilogy shares rose 10c between November 20 and 27 to $2.58 ahead of its result but fell back to $2.35 after it announced a net profit of $4.1m up 17 per cent.

Pacific Edge's shares rose so much ahead of its result it was issued with a price enquiry please explain letter by the NZX.

Its shares rose from 33.5c to 42c between Wednesday, November 22 and Monday when it responded to the letter saying it was in compliance with its continuous disclosure obligations.

Then when it announced its result — a 41 per cent increase in operating revenue and a net loss of $8.9m which had shrunk by 23 per cent on a year earlier — its shares fell to 36c.

Shane Solly, fund manager at Harbour Asset Management, said while the results were good they may not have been enough to satisfy investors.

In and outs

There's been a high volume of trading in certain stocks this week as investors prepare for a shift in the MSCI indices.

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, which has moved into the index, saw its biggest day of trading for some time on Monday.

More than two million shares changed hands on the one day followed by a further 1.1 million being traded on Tuesday and another 1 million on Wednesday.

Yesterday was the transition day for Fisher & Paykel moving into the index and Contact Energy moving out.

Some investors would have been hoping to cash in on the transition buying shares ahead of time and then selling them on for a higher price to index-tracking funds which have to buy shares at a specific day and time to track the index.

Likewise Contact Energy saw 3.18 million shares traded on Monday followed by 1.2 million on Tuesday and 1.4 million on Wednesday.

Fisher & Paykel shares closed on $13.10 yesterday while Contact shares closed on $5.40.