Statement re : New financing facility and trading

RNS Number : 5696V

Superdry PLC

10 August 2020

 

Superdry Plc

(" Superdry " or "the Company")

This Announcement Contains Inside Information

10 August 2020

New Financing Facility and Strong Cash Position

Trading update for 13 weeks to 25 July 2020 ("Q1") and timing of FY20 Results

Superdry is pleased to announce that it has entered into a new financing facility that, together with our strong net cash position, gives us the necessary flexibility and liquidity going forward.  We have agreed with our existing lenders, HSBC and BNPP, a new £70m Asset Backed Lending Facility ("ABL Facility"), extending the term until January 2023.

This ABL Facility replaces the existing facility that the Company had in place, which was due to expire in January 2022. The new facility is subject to a number of financial covenants and the borrowing base will vary throughout the year dependent on the level of the Company's eligible inventory and receivables.

As at 6 August, we had £57.8m net cash on the Balance Sheet (vs £39.8m net cash as reported on 7 May and vs £2.1m on 6 August 2019). This strong position is largely due to the significant and decisive management actions taken to preserve cash ahead of our working capital trough in October. Our total creditor position at the end of Q1 was up net £3.1m year on year, with the deferred payment of property related costs and taxes broadly offset by the delayed intake of stock into the business.

Q1 Trading update

Current trading in Q1 has been better than our initial expectations, however, disruption from Covid-19 continues to materially impact our performance year on year.

Total Group Revenue for the period is down 24.1% year on year, largely due to the impact of store closures as a result of Covid-19. Gradual reopening began at the start of FY21 and ~95% of our stores have now re-opened, with store revenue down 58.1% in Q1 versus FY20, equivalent to a 32.3% LFL decline.  Our Wholesale partners, particularly franchisees, have suffered the same headwinds and challenges as our owned stores, down 31.0% year on year.  We are pleased to see Ecommerce has continued to perform well, up 93.2% in Q1, normalising in recent weeks as stores re-open and we trade against the promotional stance in the comparative period last year.

FY20 full year results announcement

We anticipate that the Company's full year results for the 52 week period ending 25 April 2020 will be published in mid-September 2020. A further announcement will be made in due course.

Julian Dunkerton, Chief Executive Officer, said:

"The actions we have taken to date have greatly strengthened our cash position, which together with our new ABL Facility, give us the flexibility to execute our current plans and to secure our recovery.

Together, we are making our way through this unprecedented period, and I'm confident we can reset the brand and deliver on our transformation plans."

For further information:

Superdry

Nick Gresham  [e-mail]   [phone]

Adam Smith   [e-mail]   [phone]

Media enquiries

Tim Danaher, Imran Jina          [e-mail]   [phone]

Notes to Editors

The Superdry brand is obsessed with design, quality and fit and committed to relentless innovation. We design affordable, premium quality clothing, accessories and footwear which are sold around the world. We have a unique purpose to help our consumers feel amazing through wearing our clothes. We have a clear strategy for delivering continued growth via a disruptive multi-channel approach combining Ecommerce, Wholesale and physical stores. We operate in 61 countries and have over 4,300 colleagues globally.

Cautionary statement  

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition and operational results of Superdry Plc. These statements and forecasts involve risk, uncertainty and assumptions because they relate to events and depend upon circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made only as at the date of this announcement. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast. Except as required by law, Superdry Plc has no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or to correct any inaccuracies therein.

The information contained within this announcement is deemed to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. The person responsible for this announcement on behalf of Superdry is Ruth Daniels, Group General Counsel and Company Secretary of Superdry.

 

END

 

 

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