Patsystems, a UK-based supplier of software for derivatives trading, is to move from the Official List to AIM and return £9.9 million in surplus cash to shareholders.
Patsystems says that the move away from the Official List will enable it to benefit from the lower costs and greater flexibility associated with trading on AIM.
The surplus capital will be priced at 7.5 pence per share, under the 8 - 9 pence a share range initially indicated by the group when it presented its interim results in October. The company says it has decided to retain an additional cushion of funds of 0.5p per share to reflect "the tougher regulatory environment".
Next year will be an important one for the group. Development has commenced on a new Enterprise trading platform, which is expected to be rolled out to clients in the second half of 2003. Patsystems says its prospects "are materially dependent upon the success of the Enterprise project" in securing existing client relationships and signing up new clients.
Patsystems' announcement - in which the company also confirmed continued improvements in outlook through October and November - coincides with the publication of six-monthly returns by rival software outfit Ffastfill, which is reporting a 25 per cent increase in turnover to £396,000 and operating loss down 36 per cent to £2.718 million (2001: loss £4.245 million).
Looking back on a turbulent year for the group - culminating in a recent round of management changes and cutbacks - Ffastfill executive chairman Keith Todd says progress has been made in "moving towards a more stable environment".
He adds: "We are now implementing our new strategy. This is based on providing our customers with applications delivered as a service."