1 September 2014 – disposal and strategy update

The group has announced that it is to dispose of its Imperial Tankers subsidiary for cash consideration of £26.9m as the group looks to implement a new strategy focusing on its core strengths.  The cash will be used to reduce debt at the group.  The group will continue to review its activities and will update the market further when it announces its final results next week on 9 September.  The market has not reacted favourably to this announcement with the shares falling sharply – we reduce our recommendation to HOLD.