The Australian share market may have tumbled lower today but that didn't stop the Serko Ltd (ASX: SKO) share price from racing higher.
The online travel booking and expense management company's shares stormed over 6% higher to $4.35. This latest gain means Serko's shares are now up a staggering 46% since last Wednesday.
Why did Serko shares race higher?
Investors have been buying Serko's shares this month following the release of its half year update and the announcement of an equity raising.
In respect to the former, during the first half Serko continued its positive form and delivered total operating revenue of NZ$14.7 million. This was an increase of 29% over the same period last year.
It is also in line with its revenue guidance for an increase of 20% to 40% for the full year.
Another highlight was that its total recurring revenue came in at NZ$13.3 million. This was an increase of 38% and represents 91% of operating revenue.
Share purchase plan opens.
This morning Serko announced the opening of its NZ$5 million share purchase plan. To be eligible for this, you needed to be on the share registry on October 23.
This share purchase plan is part of Serko's equity raising which is aiming to raise a total of NZ$45 million new capital at NZ$4.04 per share.
NZ$40 million of this has already been raised through a placement of shares to travel booking giant Booking Holdings and New Zealand and Australian investors.
Today eligible New Zealand and Australian shareholders received their personalised application forms to apply for up to a maximum of NZ$15,000 / A$13,950 of new shares per shareholder.
This was at the lower of the price paid by investors in the recent placement (NZ$4.04) or the five day volume weighted average price of Serko shares traded on the NZX during the last five days of the share purchase plan offer period. Either way, this looks set to be notably lower than the current share price.
