£400m bond plans thrown out after investors spooked

Victoria has thrown out plans to raise €450m (£400m) in a bond issue after a disastrous week on the stock market.

Shares in the floorcoverings business fell by 35% in two days last week, wiping more than £260m off its market value, after it revealed plans to refinance.

Chairman Geoff Wilding blamed poor communication for spooking investors.

“Last week was not the board’s finest hour in terms of the clarity of our communication,” he said. “Critically, this also left an open goal for those with less than pure motives to spread outrageous untruths.”

It said indicative pricing for the bond “was higher than had been anticipated”, which affected the rationale for the change.

Victoria will continue with its existing facilities with HSBC and Barclays. Wilding sought to reassure shareholders that the company continues to “operate with significant headroom with respect to covenants under our existing 2-year facilities put in place in August 2018”.

He insisted that, although the share price last night remained nearly 30% below its level before the bond issue plan was announced, “there has been no impact on the underlying business”.