Joules appoints advisory firm to help with cash issues
Joules, the Market Harborough retail chain, has hit back at reports over the weekend suggesting that it has called in advisers to “shore up” its cash position.
The Sunday Times reported yesterday (July 10) that “struggling” Joules had appointed KPMG to help with the process.
However, in a statement this morning, Joules said that it expects to have “sufficient liquidity” and points out that it revealed in May that it is looking to improve profitability, cash generation and liquidity headroom. However, company has confirmed that it has appointed KPMG to work on this.
A statement from Joules said: “As at 29 May, the group had net debt of £21.4m, giving £11.3m headroom within its banking facilities, in line with the board’s expectations. Whilst the group continues to manage its cash resources carefully over its seasonal borrowing peak, it expects to have sufficient liquidity to manage its working capital requirements over this time.
“The group is making good progress against previously announced key initiatives aimed at simplifying the business and optimising the cost base to improve long-term profitability. This includes implementing significant changes to its wholesale operations to focus on fewer, profitable wholesale accounts and improving and simplifying the group’s end-to-end product process to reduce costs and shorten lead times.”
Joules’s share price has slumped dramatically since the start of the year, when it was trading at around the 144p mark. At close on trading on Friday, it was down to just 33.3p.
On May 4, Joules issued a profit warning after saying the cost of living squeeze was impacting sales across its full-price and gardening products.
The firm also revealed that CEO Nick Jones is to step down after three years in the role.
