Shares in troubled baker Aryzta continued to trade downwards over the past week.

The shares lost a further 20% in the past seven days, trading as low as €1.17 on Friday.

This follows the announcement, following the approval by shareholders to raise €800m in capital, that the new shares will be offered to existing shareholders at a price of one Swiss franc or €0.88 per share.

This was a more discounted price than was expected and reflects what the company needed to do given its situation.

Dilute shareholdings

It will see existing shareholders being offered the right to buy 10 new shares for every share they hold.

Shareholders have until 15 November to exercise their right to acquire the new shares.

It would technically dilute shareholdings by 90% if investors don’t follow their investment and invest in new shares.

The deeply discounted price offered to shareholders on the new shares was larger than expected, reflecting the company’s uncertain market position.

Greencore

Greencore shares traded between between £1.85 and £1.95 this week, recovered somewhat later in the week and closed at £1.93 on Friday.

On Wednesday, Greencore held a shareholder meeting to seek approval of the company’s plan to sell its US business for over $1bn.

The company intends to return some of the money to shareholders.

However, some 20% of the shareholders are against how the company intends to return this money, as they believe it is not the most tax-efficient method.

The company wants to distribute the bulk of the proceeds as a special dividend, but this will incur income tax for shareholders.

The company said it would consult further with shareholders about how to return the money.