Retail: JD Group plans rights issue

JD Group would sell shares worth as much as R1.5 billion as it increased provisions against bad debt, the furniture retailer and provider of unsecured loans said yesterday in a trading update warning that it would report a loss for the fiscal first half. It planned a rights issue of R1.3bn to R1.5bn to enhance its prospects for profitable growth from a strengthened capital base, the company said. “The company adopted a more conservative provisioning methodology as a result of the deteriorating credit quality in both the secured and unsecured lending market,” it said. The shares fell 6.31 percent to close at R25.40 yesterday, the lowest since October 2008. – Bloomberg