10th Aug 2021 11:51
(Alliance News) - IWG PLC on Tuesday said it expects a month-on-month improvement in the second half of the year, despite booking a pretax loss of GBP162.7 million in the first half.
The London-listed workspace provider's pretax loss for the year narrowed by 31% for the six months ended June 30. Its pretax loss was GBP237.3 million in the same period last year.
Interim revenue was GBP1.07 billion, a 19% drop from GBP1.32 billion last year.
Net debt for the period shrunk by 4.0% to GBP6.79 billion from GBP7.07 billion last year.
IWG tipped that it has improved pricing since March by granting fewer concessions to customers, tightening discounts and removing Covid-19 promotions.
"As these new sales replace those made during the worst period of the crisis, the embedded price in the forward order book will improve over time, reflecting the normal lag effect," said Chief Executive Mark Dixon.
"The month-on-month improvements in our key operating metrics as we came into the summer months are encouraging and we anticipate this momentum continuing into the second half of 2021."
In addition, IWG's total occupancy levels began to recover in the half year, achieving 66% compared to 73% in 2020.
The FTSE 250 company declared no interim dividend, in line with last year. "Given the uncertainty caused by Covid-19, we believe it is prudent to protect our liquidity," it said.
Shares in IWG were up 3.4% at 330.40 pence in London on Tuesday morning trading.
By Josie O'Brien; [email protected]
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