McColl's sinks into the red; suspends dividend

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Convenience retailer McColl's swung to a deep annual loss and suspended its dividend after it wrote down the value of its assets and its sales slid.

Pre-tax losses for the year through December amounted to £98.6m, compared to a profit of £7.9m on-year.

Revenue fell 1.8% to £1.22bn, which the company said reflected store closures and divestments.

Like-for like sales were flat for the year.

McColl's said its priority was to cut debt, with a target of 2.0 times earnings by the end of 2022.

Discussions with banks to amend and extend an existing debt facility were well advanced, it added, with an announcement expected shortly.

Sales so far in the current year had been encouraging, with like-for-like sales up 0.5% for the 11-week period ended 9 February.

Total sales, however, fell 4.2% reflecting the ongoing store optimisation programme.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were expected to be 'broadly in line' with the £32.1m posted in 2019.

At 9:52am: (LON:MCLS) Mccolls Retail Group Plc share price was -6.15p at 36.95p