In light of the Group's deleveraging priority, the Mccoll's Board has reached the decision to suspend the final dividend and keep the policy under review. The Board's priority is to reduce leverage with a target of 2.0x by the end of 2022.
Other financial highlights include:
Total revenue down 1.8% to £1.22bn (2018: £1.24bn), reflecting store closures and divestments as part of store optimisation programme
Total like-for-like (LFL) sales level at 0.0% (2018: down 1.4%)
Adjusted gross margin broadly level at 25.9% (2018: 26.0%), with a stronger year-on-year performance through H2
Adjusted EBITDA £32.1m (2018: £35.0m), reflecting softer market conditions through the summer, partially offset by gross margin improvement in H2
Adjusted profit before tax £7.3m (2018: £10.5m)
One-off, non-cash goodwill impairment charge of £98.6m together with other adjusting items leading to statutory loss before tax of £98.6m (2018: profit before tax £7.9m)
Statutory basic loss per share 83.3p (2018: profit per share 6.0p); adjusted basic earnings per share 5.6p (2018: 6.7p)
Net debt reduced to £94.1m (2018: £98.6m)
Discussions with lending banks to amend and extend the existing debt facility are well advanced, with an announcement expected shortly
