Abbeycrest secures credit facilities
ABBEYCREST, the Leeds-based jewellery firm, said today that it has successfully renewed all of its UK borrowing facilities.
The firm, in which serial Swedish investor Peter Gyllenhammar has a 16.2% stake, said that its newly negotiated borrowing included an £8m facility with its senior creditor Burdale Financial.
The facility is secured primarily on the group’s UK stock and debtors and will expire in March 2011.
Abbeycrest’s chairman Simon Ashton, said: “The renewal of these facilities is welcome news against a backdrop of difficult credit market conditions.
“We are now in a position to focus on delivering our restructuring plans for the group and creating a viable and sustainable business as a solid platform for future growth.”
In January, Abbeycrest announced that its troubled distribution arm G&A was to undergo further restructuring as the group worked to renew its banking facilities.
It said that while good progress had been made in cutting costs and reducing working capital required by the loss-making subsidiary, the current economic climate and imminent re-banking of its facilities meant that it was “accelerating” any plans.
Abbeycrest, which has three other subsidiaries – Abbeycrest Thailand, Abeycrest Hong Kong and Brown and Newirth, made a £1.1m operating loss in the year to the end of February 2008, which it blamed on restructuring costs for G&A.
