Revolution Bars Group COVID-19 Update (5427G)
March 18 2020 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMRBG
RNS Number : 5427G
Revolution Bars Group
18 March 2020
18 March 2020
Revolution Bars Group plc (LSE: RBG)
COVID-19 update
Revolution Bars Group plc (the "Group"), a leading UK operator
of 74 premium bars, trading under the Revolution and Revolución de
Cuba brands, provides the following update regarding COVID-19.
Following the announcement of the Group's Interim results on 26
February 2020, the Group has continued to perform in line with
expectations with sales from like-for-like bars ("LFL") up 1.1% for
the 37 weeks of the financial period to date.
However, in very recent days, the Group has experienced a
decline in LFL revenue following the increasing impact of COVID-19.
Following the UK Government's announcement late yesterday advising
the public to stay away from bars and the actions of other
Governments, it is reasonable to expect the trading environment
will be very challenging for the foreseeable future. As such, the
Board expects a material deterioration in trading performance for
the remainder of the financial period ending 30 June 2020, however,
given the continued high level of uncertainty it is not possible to
quantify the precise impact at this time.
To help mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and preserve cash, the
Group is taking actions to remove cost and non-critical capex from
the business. These measures include:
- Reduction in payroll costs across the business
- Review and reduction of unprofitable trading sessions
- Reduction in other variable costs such as entertainment and door staff
- Suspension of rent and deferral of business rates
- Requests to defer PAYE and VAT payments
The Group welcomes the Government's support for the business
rates holiday for 12 months announced late yesterday, but this does
not go nearly far enough and we hope that there will be further
measures in the coming days to provide assistance with payroll
entitlements to gain surety for our employees, amongst other
things.
The Group's net debt position as at the end of week 37 (last
week) was GBP10.5m in line with the Board's expectations. The Board
continues to monitor the Group's funding requirements closely and
is proactively exploring all the options available.
As demonstrated in its recent Interim results the Group
delivered positive momentum driven by both its strong brands:
Revolution, and Revolución de Cuba.
The Board will update when appropriate.
Rob Pitcher, CEO, comments:
"At this difficult time, we are doing all we can to protect our
business and our employees from the COVID-19 virus and any
financial hardship its effects may have. We would welcome further
Government support"
Whilst we face a very challenging period in the current
financial year, we are determined to make the right choices for the
Group, employees, shareholders and all other stakeholders."
Revolution Bars Group plc Tel: 0161 330 3876
Rob Pitcher, CEO
Mike Foster, CFO
Peel Hunt LLP, Joint Broker Tel: 020 7418 8900
George Sellar
Andrew Clark
FinnCap, Joint Broker Tel: 020 7220 0500
Matt Goode / Simon Hicks (Corporate
Finance)
Tim Redfern / Richard Chambers
(ECM)
Instinctif (Financial PR) Tel: 07831 379122
Matt Smallwood
Jack Devoy
This announcement contains inside information within the meaning
of the Market Abuse Regulation. The person responsible for
arranging release of this announcement on behalf of Revolution Bars
Group plc is Mike Foster, Chief Financial Officer.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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END
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