Mitchells & Butlers secures £250m liquidity deals
Pubco Mitchells & Butlers says it is in “good shape” after securing a cash bank of £250m through to December 2021.
The liquidity is made up of an existing £150m facility plus new funds of £100m through the government’s Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, which will be available on a new covenant structure.
The firm says it currently has cash balances of £130m, having fully drawn down the existing facilities of £150m, but is burning through around £30-£35 every four weeks as it pays down suppliers.
A statement from Mitchells & Butler said: “In securing these valuable amendments the group has agreed not to pay an external dividend, undertake any share buy-backs or repurchase bond debt until the end of the financial year to September 2021, at the earliest.
“The financial arrangements we are announcing today put us in good shape to address the challenge ahead based on what we believe to be a conservative downside scenario in which the reopening of any of our sites is delayed until October and sales then build back to reach full previous year trade levels over the period to July 2021. Our current expectation is for the commencement of reopening of sites from early July this year.”
