SIG in bid to raise £341m as profits drop 73%

Insulation and materials firm SIG has revealed plans to raise £341m in a discounted share placing to combat its debts, as it posted a 73% drop in full-year profits.

The company, which has been hit by a downturn in building and construction work during 2008, has a net debt of £697m.

It has closed 80 trading sites and made around 1,020 staff redundant - the equivalent of around 7% of its workforce.

The group will now issue 455m shares at 75p each, below its closing share price of 105p yesterday.

Pre-tax profit fell 73% for £33.1m for the 12 months to December 2008. The company predicted that 2009 would remain "very challenging" for the parts of its business most exposed to the housing market and that demand from the non-residential sector had also been subdued so far.