Johannesburg — METOREX'S share price plunge gives management little credit for its achievement in raising new finance under very difficult market conditions.

What the share price is actually reflecting is shareholders' disappointment with the onerous terms of the refinancing package, and fear of further bad news to come.

The announcement that the Ruashi project was experiencing delays and cost overruns was a nasty surprise, despite management's insistence that it had mentioned the problems previously.

Imara SP Reid analyst Steve Meintjes said in a note to clients last week that the share price movement ahead of Metorex's announcement was also "unfortunate", raising some suspicions about shareholders in the know.

Meintjes said that the news about cost overruns created uncertainty about cost assumptions once full production was achieved at Ruashi.

However, he recommended shareholders follow their rights in the share issue.