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Shareholders in Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer Bowleven may be forced to digest yet more bad news.
Only a couple of weeks after the breakdown of bid talks with Thailand's state-owned oil company PTT, there is mounting speculation that the company will be forced to turn to hard-pressed shareholders for extra funds in the shape of a deeply discounted rights issue.
That was certainly the story doing the rounds over the Easter weekend which led to the share price opening 2p lower at 49¾p when trading resumed on the stock market this morning.
Brokers say Bowleven, which has interests in West Africa, will announce a rights issue in the coming weeks because it does not have enough cash to develop its assets. In addition, efforts to find a development partner to share drilling costs have been hampered by its weak negotiating position.
AIM-listed Bowleven was approached by a bidder last month who seemed prepared to offer 150p a share. The terms of the offer were later reduced to 100p, but the deal eventually broke down when it became clear that PTT was unable to table a firm bid after bosses of the company refused to back it.
Bowleven later said it was investigating "all available funding options to progress the business".
The rights issue process will be eased slightly by the fact that Bowleven has approval to issue up to 250 million new shares, after announcing plans for a possible cash call in November.
The shares' market value would allow it to raise about £125 million, although the call is reportedly likely to be for between £50 million and £60 million.
Shares made a slow start to the week following a disappointing start on Wall Street overnight. The decision of many investors to extend their Easter break cut turnover levels. Even so, the FTSE100 index benefited from a futures-led rally to post a rise of 7.5 at 3991.12.
Hopes are high that takings in the shops have received a boost from the Easter holiday. Goldman Sachs is taking a more upbeat view of prospects for some of the retailers.
Despite the growing threat of a cut to its dividend this year, Goldman has raised its share price target for Marks & Spencer from 296p to 360p with a buy rating, along with M&S's biggest rival Next. It has added shares of the fashion retailer to its Conviction Buy list and jacked-up its target from 1455p to 1740p.
Another retailer to get Goldman's seal of approval is Topps Tiles, which is continuing its recovery despite a number of profit warnings. It rates the shares a buy and has lifted its target from 35p to 45p. Topps is often tipped as a takeover target from Lord Harris of Peckham's Carpetright.
New York investors were in a cautious mood when they returned to work after the Easter break. The Dow ended the session 25.57 lower at 8057.81.
This could be a crunch week for sentiment with General Motors facing possible bankruptcy after its restructuring proposals were rejected by the US government.
Shares in Tokyo traded a touch softer amid worries about the future of General Motors which led to selling of Japanese carmakers, while Sumitomo Realty & Development slid after being put on a brokerage sell list.
The benchmark Nikkei closed down 81.75 points to 8,842.68. Toyota Motor lost 3.6%, Honda Motor fell 3.7%, and Nissan Motor shed 6.1%. Denso, one of Toyota's core suppliers, slid 2.8% to 2275 yen and Bridgestone, Japan's largest tyre maker, fell 5.2% to 1,470 yen.
In Hong Kong, shares were chased higher to end the morning session at a three-month peak after a long Easter holiday, buoyed by hopes for stabilisation in the financial sector.
Among the big winners, BOC Hong Kong was up 8.2% to HK$10.28 after the Hong Kong-based lender's parent increased its holding in the bank from 65.87% to 66.06% earlier this month.
The benchmark Hang Seng index was up 577.92 points at 15,479.33.
