13/10/2020
Star Pubs & Bars extend rent concessions for Tenants in November
Pubs will be given a 30%, 35% or 50% reduction depending on their individual circumstances and the government support they have been able to access, at a cost of £2.8m.
Deep Blue Restaurants - update
The restaurant chain paid £7.3m to acquire the Harry Ramsden's brand from Boparan Restaurant Holdings in August last year, and £921,000 for Fish & Chips @149, which has a portfolio of three outlets in Yorkshire and County Durham, in February 2019. Like-for-like sales in September this year were at 98.5% of 2019 levels and saw turnover increase 37.2% to £16m for the year ending 24 September 2019. Site Ebitda was up to £2.7m (from £1.9m).
Greene King to close 79 pubs
79 of Greene King's pubs and restaurants will close, with roughly one-third of the closures expected to be permanent, including11 Loch Fyne units.
Social Entertainment Ventures report to Sept 19
The operator of ping pong and darts concepts, including Flight Club, has reported revenues of £19.1m in the year (up 27.1%) and produced adjusted EBITDA of £1.8m (2018: £1.3m).
The Restaurant Group reports very encouraging' trading since re-opening
With c.90% now open and an estimated 30% reduction in capacity the trading performance
for the 11 weeks to 20th September 2020 has been very encouraging. Wagamama like-for-like +11%, leisure +4% and pubs +14%.
Cinemas struggle
Lenders have brought in advisers for urgent talks with Cineworld as it mothballs circa 660 sites in the UK and US. FTI Consulting is to negotiate with the operator and is likely to be followed by a formal debt restructuring and the prospect of a company voluntary arrangement. Odeon cinemas will shut a quarter of its sites and Vue cinemas says it could temporarily close some of its venues.
Hugh Osmond warns of Zombie basket cases
Osmond said emergency loans were digging businesses further into trouble. Loan schemes were the morphine masking the pain of a life-threatening wound. What the economy needs is more equity investment, not debt. Loading debt upon debt might have kept things ticking over, but these schemes are turning once-viable businesses into zombie basket cases. There are too many businesses carrying too much debt which is a millstone around their necks.
And Finally...
New restrictions hit hospitality sales. The latest Coffer Peach Business Tracker has revealed that with 88% of sites trading before the pandemic now open, total sales for the week across the sector were 27.7% below 2019 levels. But crucially they were 8.2% down on the previous week, reflecting the immediate impact of new restrictions, including the 10pm curfew, local lock-downs, table-only service and limits on numbers socialising.