COMPANIES Shares in Cookson, a supplier of ceramic components to the steelmaking sector, rose more than 12 per cent on Thursday after it unveiled an underwritten £240m rights issue aimed at avoiding a breach of banking covenants on its £730m of debt.
Nick Salmon, chief executive, said the company was hoping for a pick-up in global steel production later in 2009 after a 20 per cent decline in the run-up to Christmas, which has been sustained into the new year.
