Empyrean raises £1m via placement

AIM-listed oil and gas development company Empyrean Energy issued 10.28m new ordinary shares at a price of 10p each on Friday, raising £1.02m in the process.

Empyrean's placing price of 10p represented a 3.7% premium to the group's average trading price over the last twenty days and a 4.9% premium to its closing price on Thursday.

The funds raised will be used to bolster Empyrean's general working capital, while the shares themselves were expected to be admitted to trading on AIM before the 22 November.

Chief executive Tom Kelly, said: "Following the announcement of the highly-encouraging independent expert review of our Chinese prospects by Gaffney Cline & Associates, the company felt it was a prudent time to secure further working capital to support our ongoing activities across the portfolio.

"It was pleasing to secure these funds at a premium to recent trading levels, which we see as a sign of investor confidence in the untapped potential of our projects".

As of 1200 GMT, Empyrean shares had gained 4.99% to 10p.