Loungers PLC Bank facility extension and re-opening update (9038U)
April 09 2021 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMLGRS
RNS Number : 9038U
Loungers PLC
09 April 2021
Loungers Plc
("Loungers" or "the Company")
Bank facility extension and re-opening update
Loungers, the operator of 168 neighbourhood café / bar /
restaurants across England and Wales under the Lounge and Cosy Club
brands, is pleased to announce it has further strengthened its
financial and liquidity position and that its lending banks,
Santander and Bank of Ireland, have approved a 12 month extension
to the incremental GBP15.0m revolving credit facility ("RCF") that
was put in place in April 2020. This additional facility now runs
to October 2022 and provides the Company with total RCF facilities
of GBP25.0m. Covenant tests at 18 April 2021 have been waived and
subsequent quarterly tests until 26 December 2021 have been re-set
to provide appropriate headroom to enable a full resumption of the
Company's new site roll-out programme.
We intend to take a phased approach to reopening and will
initially open 47 sites in England on 12 April for takeaway and
external trading, and five sites in Wales on 26 April on the same
basis, in line with the respective governments' suggested roadmaps.
Assuming no changes to the roadmap, we plan to re-open all of our
English sites by 17 May and our sites in Wales later in May subject
to confirmation from the Welsh government.
In addition, we also plan to open four new Lounge sites in
Wolverhampton, Stourbridge, Welwyn Garden City and St Ives by 26
May bringing the estate to 172 sites in total, comprising 142
Lounges and 30 Cosy Clubs. These new sites were partially fitted
out going into lockdown at the end of December 2020 and are
currently being completed.
We are approaching re-opening with enthusiasm and optimism,
encouraged by how strongly the business traded last Summer and
Autumn. Our sites have been completely closed since 30 December and
we have used this time well, continuing to focus on evolution
within Lounge and Cosy Club, as well as undertaking targeted
investment in our sites, particularly in our outside trading areas.
We remain confident that Loungers is well-placed to emerge strongly
as the country comes out of lockdown.
We anticipate - and are ready to return to - a run-rate of 25
new site openings per year during the course of the year ending
April 2022, assuming no further Covid interruptions. The pipeline
of new sites is exceptionally strong and we continue to see a large
number of attractive opportunities in the locations which we are
targeting.
Nick Collins, Chief Executive of Loungers, said:
"Having been closed since 30 December , it is really exciting to
be back in some of the sites, preparing to open our terraces to
customers on Monday. Whilst it is frustrating that we have to wait
until 17 May to re-open more fully given the steps we have taken to
ensure our business is Covid-safe, it does allow us to re-open
gradually, bring our teams back from furlough and get the supply
chain back up and running.
"We expect to trade well once the estate is fully re-opened,
particularly with our strong coastal presence as we look forward to
a summer of staycationing. Planned new openings in Blackpool,
Scarborough and Aberystwyth ahead of the summer holidays will
reinforce this position. Our suburban and market town locations,
combined with our flexible, all-day model, mean we are
well-positioned as we look to the future.
"The most recent lockdown has given us a real opportunity to
build a fantastic pipeline of new sites in what is undoubtedly a
tenant-friendly environment. We will approach the coming months
cautiously but are very keen to get back to opening 25 sites a year
at the earliest opportunity with such excellent properties being
presented to us, and we are grateful to Santander and Bank of
Ireland for their continued support."
9 April 2021
For further information please contact:
Loungers plc Via Instinctif Partners
Nick Collins, Chief Executive Officer
Gregor Grant, Chief Financial Officer
GCA Altium Limited (Financial Adviser and Tel: +44 (0) 20
NOMAD) 7484 4040
Sam Fuller / Katherine Hobbs / Tim Richardson
Liberum Capital Limited (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0) 20
Andrew Godber / John Fishley 3100 2000
Peel Hunt LLP (Joint Broker) Tel: +44 (0)20 7418
Dan Webster / George Sellar 8900
Instinctif Partners (Financial Public Relations) Tel: 020 7457 2005
Justine Warren
Matthew Smallwood
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