17th Dec 2020 09:34
(Alliance News) - SSP Group PLC on Thursday reported a sharp swing to loss in its recently-ended financial year as the Covid-19 pandemic hit the travel market.
The London-based operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations reported its revenue for the financial year ended September 30 decreased 49% to GBP1.43 billion from GBP2.79 billion the year before. This resulted in a pretax loss of GBP425.8 million, turning from a profit of GBP197.2 million the year prior.
SSP said like-for-like sales were down 51% in the year, noting that this was due to the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the closure of most global travel markets since March.
The company reported "very low sales" in the third quarter, down 93% year-on-year, but saw passenger numbers increase gradually over the final quarter, to see sales 76% lower year-on-year by the end of September. However, the re-emergence of the virus and further lockdowns across the UK and Europe since the end of the financial year has resulted in further volatility in passenger numbers, said SSP.
As a result of this, it expect sales during the first quarter of the 2021 financial year to remain "broadly in line" with the final quarter of the recently-ended year, approximately 80% lower year-on-year. SSP forecasts the volatility to continue through the second quarter of the new financial year.
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Simon Smith said: "Whilst we expect passenger numbers to remain subdued over the winter, we are optimistic that, alongside good progress with the vaccination programme, we will see a significant upturn in both domestic and international travel from the spring."
"The actions we are taking to rebuild the business will put us in a strong position to capitalise on the recovery as well as future new business opportunities, enabling us to deliver long term sustainable growth for the benefit of all our stakeholders," he added.
The company said it will pay no dividend for the year, compared to a total of 11.8p in 2019.
Shares in SSP were down 4.1% at 312.82 pence in London on Thursday.
By Zoe Wickens; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
SSP Group