26th Feb 2020 09:51
(Alliance News) - Shares in McColl's Retail Group PLC dropped on Wednesday as it turned to an annual loss on a decline in revenue reflecting store closures, leading to a suspended final dividend.
Shares in the retailer were 12% lower at 37.80 pence on Wednesday in London.
For the year ended November 24, McColl's posted a pretax loss of GBP98.6 million, compared to a pretax profit of GBP7.9 million, due to a one-off, non-cash goodwill impairment of GBP98.6 million, alongside other items.
On an adjusted basis, pretax profit dropped by 30% to GBP7.3 million from GBP10.5 million.
Revenue declined by 1.8% to GBP1.22 billion from GBP1.24 billion the prior year, while like-for-like sales remained level, compared to a decline of 1.4% in 2018.
In line with its deleveraging policy, McColl's has suspended its final dividend payout for the year, as the group looks to reduce its debt.
As a result, the total dividend for the group is at 1.3p, down from 4.0p the prior year.
Looking ahead, McColl's said sales in the first 11 weeks of its current financial year have been encouraging, with a like-for-like sales improvement of 0.5%, even as total sales dropped by 4.2%.
"We have stabilised the business and refocused on retail execution in 2019, in line with our key priorities for the year. Against challenging trading conditions we have made good operational progress, whilst reducing debt and making appropriate levels of investment," said Chief Executive Jonathan Miller.
"Looking ahead to FY20, we are embarking on a strategic change programme, refining our model and better tailoring our offer to the customers and communities we serve, using the learnings to build the foundations for future growth," Miller added.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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