27th Jan 2014 08:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Struggling pawnbroking business Albemarle & Bond Holdings PLC Monday warned its shareholders that there may be little residual value left in its shares, after it terminated its formal sale process, claiming none of the proposals it had received represented a fair value for the company.
It said its lenders have extended the deferral of its banking covenants until the end of March while it looks at other options for the business.
"Whilst alternative options continue to be explored, the Board of Albemarle now believes that, depending on the final outcome, there may be limited value attributable to the ordinary shares," it said in a statement.
Albemarle & Bond started the formal sale process to sell the business at the beginning of December, after it struggled to turn the business around since being hit by the sharp fall in the gold price earlier in the year.
The company reported a pretax profit of GBP4.9 million for the year to end-June, down from GBP21.4 million a year earlier, as revenues declined to GBP107.1 million from GBP117.7 million and it booked GBP4.6 million of restructuring costs and other one-off items.
In an attempt to stem losses, the group began the smelting down of jewellery and stock to sell as gold bars and closing down unprofitable stores and pop-up gold shops.
The company's net debt is nearing the limit of its GBP53.5 million bank facilities.
It had previously done a deal with its lenders to defer a test of its covenants until February 3, giving it more time to try and turn around the business and resolve its tight financing situation.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @SteveMcGrath1
Copyright © 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
ABM.L