- Mitchells & Butlers’ full-year revenue slides 34% due to COVID-19 restrictions.
- The pubs, bars, and restaurants operator reports £123 million of pre-tax loss.
- The British firm cuts 1,300 jobs to cushion the economic blow from COVID-19.
In a report on Thursday, Mitchells & Butlers plc (LON: MAB) said it concluded fiscal 2020 in loss due to the Coronavirus pandemic that pushed its stores into temporarily shutting down. The company also revealed to have slashed its workforce by 1,300 jobs.
Shares of the company tanked more than 1% on market open on Thursday. Including the price action, Mitchells & Butlers shares that you can learn to buy online here, are now trading at £2.21 after recovering from a sharply lower £1.0 per share in March due to the COVID-19 disruptions. The stock had a per-share price of £4.56 at the start of the year 2020.
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Mitchells & Butlers reports £123 million of pre-tax loss
The owner of the prominent brands like Toby Carvery, Harvester, and All Bar One, reported £123 million of pre-tax loss in the year that concluded on 26th September. In comparison, it had posted £177 million of profit in fiscal 2019.
The Birmingham-based company also said that its revenue printed at £1.48 billion in the recently concluded year that translates to a 34% annualised decline. Like-for-like sales, it added on Thursday, were 3.5% down than last year.
But due to the new COVID-19 restrictions imposed in England on 5th November, Mitchells & Butlers said that its like-for-like sales in fiscal 2021 were 27% down so far. In separate news from the United Kingdom, insurer Aviva plc reinstated dividend payments for H1 on the back of robust trading in the first nine months.
Mitchells & Butlers makes 1,300 redundancies
Mitchells & Butlers made 1,300 redundancies after 26th September despite the British government’s job retention support in previous months. The move, as per the pubs, bars, and restaurants operator, was attributed to the COVID-19 crisis that continues to wreak havoc on its business.
The British company also cited COVID-19 uncertainties as it refrained from giving its guidance for the future on Thursday.
As per the reverse stress-test modelling, 4% lower sales in fiscal 2021 than Mitchells’ base-case scenario will make it challenging for the company to meet its financial commitments. Mitchells & Butlers, however, expressed confidence that it’ll negotiate covenant waivers if sales remained under pressure this year.
Mitchells & Butlers performed largely upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of roughly 80%. At the time of writing, it is valued at £957 million.
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