City round-up: Revolution Bars; Yourgene Health; NWF

Revolution Bars, the Manchester-based group, reported annual results to June 27, today showing a fall in revenues and deeper losses, during a period chief executive Rob Pitcher described the Government’s actions towards the industry as “scandalous”.

The group, which last month won approval for its CVA (company voluntary arrangement) proposals, achieved sales of £110.074m in the year, down from £151.404m previously.

A pre-tax loss of £5.574m last year was turned into a loss of £31.720m this year – after £21.9m of exceptional items including £27.4m of non-cash asset impairments – following the unprecedented impact of coronavirus on the hospitality and leisure industry.

However, the group said that, when free to trade without government restrictions, it is highly cash generative. Pre-COVID-19 in the first half, net bank debt reduced by £6.5m, but COVID-19 has inevitably caused net bank debt to rise in the second half. Net bank debt as of December 16, 2020 was £19.5m and the group currently has available liquidity of £17.6m.

Chief executive, Rob Pitcher, said: “2020 has been an immensely challenging year but I am incredibly proud of the dedication shown by our team to steer us through this period.

“Prior to the onset of the pandemic we were reaping the rewards of the workstreams we introduced last year to improve performance with both brands in like-for-like sales growth, out-performing our High Street Bars peer group.

“We also continued to see strong results from our refurbishment programme. This work, combined with our focus on the customer experience through the development of our App, order and pay at table, and our online booking systems, and the additional financial strength and flexibility we have secured through the actions taken since the COVID pandemic hit the UK, gives me great confidence that we are well placed to recover and return to growth once trading restrictions are removed.”

He added: “The UK Government’s actions towards wet-led bars and late-night hospitality are nothing short of scandalous.

“It has little evidence to justify the severe restrictions that have been imposed and it is deliberately sacrificing businesses and people’s livelihoods.

“The recent grants of £1,000 per pub as compensation for being deprived of our most important trading period is derisory and insulting, and underlines a complete lack of understanding of the costs associated with businesses of this nature (even when they are shut) or any sympathy for the consequences of their inept decisions.

“The next few months will continue to be challenging and entirely dependent on imposed operating restrictions. Further meaningful government support will be required to help safeguard the industry and avoid further job losses, particularly for young people.

“However, given the actions we have taken to secure the future of the business, I am confident that Revolution will emerge from this crisis as a more focused business, and in a strong position relative to our competition, ready to seize any opportunities that arise.”

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Lyn Rees

Manchester biotech firm Yourgene Health saw half year income increase slightly, but losses deepen.

The business, which is focused on non-invasive pre-natal testing (NIPT) and COVID-19 testing, achieved revenues of £8.181m in the six months to September 30, compared with £7.767m the previous year. A pre-tax loss of £2.605m compared with a loss of £1.342m a year ago.

It said: “The results demonstrate the resilience of the group’s core business during the first few months of the global pandemic, its responsiveness in launching COVID-19 testing solutions rapidly and its focus on driving further long-term growth through the acquisition of Coastal Genomics Inc in August 2020. This half-year has also been a period of continued investment, further strengthening the underlying business and enabling growth for the full year and beyond.”

Chief executive, Lyn Rees, said: “The results demonstrate the resilience of the group’s core business during the first few months of the global pandemic and although Yourgene’s operating landscape during the first half was volatile, as experienced by the great majority of businesses, we have built a significant hedge through our UK COVID-19 testing offering.

“From a standing start in May 2020, our COVID-19 products and services generated revenues of £0.5m in H1 and have already exceeded that in the first two months of H2. We are very proud of our contribution to the global effort both to combat the virus and to get the global economy moving again.”

He added: “We have proven very adaptable in the face of COVID-19 and, whilst not unaffected, we have more than stood our ground.

“The reorientation of the business that was commenced in 2019, namely to focus on our four key strategic growth drivers – product penetration, geographical expansion, product expansion and acquisition growth – continues to bear fruit, and we are working well with our new Canadian colleagues at Coastal Genomics to convert the exciting pipeline of opportunities they bring to the group.

“We continue to have a very significant opportunity ahead of us, and we remain confident in our outlook for the current financial year.

“Being at the forefront of new diagnostic technologies, we are hugely excited about the prospects for substantial growth in the years to come and we are utilising the additional funds entrusted to us by shareholders to ensure we capitalise on these opportunities as effectively as possible.”

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Richard Whiting

Cheshire food and fuel distributor NWF, said it expects to report overall half year results in line with board expectations.

In a trading update today, it said, as anticipated, overall performance will be slightly behind the prior year, albeit with a further reduction in net debt as at November 30, 2020.

The group said it is satisfied that the cyber incident notified on November 2, 2020, has been contained and is pleased to report that this has not materially impacted the trading or commercial performance of the business.

Additional security measures have also been integrated into the group’s IT systems to provide further resilience moving forward.

The three group divisions – fuels, food, feeds – remain open and fully operational, given that they all provide essential services.

The statement added: “We continue to monitor the latest developments on Brexit, have contingency plans in place where necessary, and critically, operate in large stable domestic markets with robust levels of demand.”

Chief executive Richard Whiting said: “We had a solid first half with trading in line with our expectations.

“This performance is a further demonstration of the resilience of the group, which, given the challenges of keeping our people safe, managing demand volatility and responding to a cyber incident, have demonstrated our teams’ strong capabilities.

“We remain confident in our growth potential and continue to target development opportunities.”