Japan Joint Venture

RNS Number : 0564U

Hotel Chocolat Group PLC

28 July 2022

 

28 July 2022

HOTEL CHOCOLAT GROUP PLC

( " Hotel Chocolat ", the " Company" or the " Group ")

Japan Joint Venture

Hotel Chocolat Group plc, a premium chocolate brand, today announces that Hotel Chocolat KK, a Japanese joint venture in which the Group holds a 20% shareholding, has obtained Court approval for Civil Rehabilitation restructuring proceedings (Minji Saisei):

· The Group understands that Hotel Chocolat KK has entered Civil rehabilitation in order to pursue options for a restructuring, pursuant to seeking new sources of capital.

· The Group had loaned £23m to Hotel Chocolat KK over the period 2018 to 2022 for working capital purposes. In addition, the Group has entered into guarantee arrangements of up to £5.8m for loans made to HC KK by Japanese leasing companies.

· As part of a Trading Update on 19^th July 2022, the Board of Hotel Chocolat Group has previously acknowledged the potential for a full impairment charge in the FY22 accounts, under IFRS9 relating to revised assessment of probability of recovery on £23m of loans made to Japan joint venture over the period 2018-2022.  

Enquiries:

Hotel Chocolat Group PLC	Tel: [phone]
Angus Thirlwell, Co-Founder and CEO Peter Harris, Co-Founder and Development Director Matt Pritchard, CFO
Liberum (Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Clayton Bush Edward Thomas Miquela Bezuidenhoudt
Citigate Dewe Rogerson	Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7638 9571
Angharad Couch Ellen Wilton Alex Winch

Notes to Editors:

Hotel Chocolat is a premium British chocolate maker with a strong and distinctive D2C brand. The business was founded by Angus Thirlwell and Peter Harris, who are still executives within the business, and has traded under the Hotel Chocolat brand since 2003. The Group is unusual in being a grower (organic cacao farm in Saint Lucia), a manufacturer (Cambridgeshire) and owning its extensive direct to consumer channels (branded stores, websites). The Group was admitted to trading on AIM in 2016.

 

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