Motorpoint Group plc COVID-19: Temporary Closure of Retail Sites (4095H)
25 March 2020 - 1:04AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMOTR
RNS Number : 4095H
Motorpoint Group plc
24 March 2020
24 March 2020
Motorpoint Group PLC
("Motorpoint" or the "Group")
COVID-19: Temporary Closure of Retail Sites
Motorpoint Group PLC, the UK's largest independent vehicle
retailer, announces the temporary closure of its 13 retail sites in
light of the constantly evolving COVID-19 situation and in line
with recent guidance from the Government.
The Board has taken this decision, in the best interests of its
employees and customers, to help limit the spread of the
Coronavirus amongst the UK population. The Board is working closely
with all of the Group's key stakeholders, including taking all
possible steps to ensure the continued health and welfare of our
teams. Steps already taken include the furloughing of relevant
staff and halving director pay. The Group notes and appreciates the
various actions taken by the Government to support businesses and
employees during these challenging times and will assess how best
to utilise these while the Group's sites remain closed .
Due to the level of country-wide uncertainty, the Board has
already taken proactive cost reduction and cash management steps,
including pausing the purchase of additional vehicle stock,
temporarily suspending the share buyback programme and postponing
all discretionary capital expenditure. These actions, taken with
the continued support of the Group's banking partners, ensure
Motorpoint remains as flexible and resilient as possible in the
current unprecedented environment.
Trading for the 11 months to 29 February 2020 was in line with
management's expectations and this continued into the first week of
the Group's most important trading month of March. However, the
recent impacts of Coronavirus have had a material impact on March's
performance and therefore on the FY20 out-turn. As a result, the
Group is suspending all forward guidance until circumstances
surrounding COVID-19 become clearer.
The Group has a strong balance sheet with a GBP20m Revolving
Credit Facility committed until 2024, which has been partially
drawn to provide additional liquidity in the current environment.
The Board remains confident of the Group's robust and resilient
model and will ensure the whole business continues to responsibly
support the best interests of the team and customers.
Certain information contained in this announcement would have
constituted inside information (as defined by Article 7 of
Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) prior to its release as part of this
announcement.
Enquiries:
Motorpoint Group PLC via FTI Consulting
Mark Carpenter, Chief Executive
Officer
James Gilmour, Chief Financial
Officer
FTI Consulting (Financial PR)
Alex Beagley
James Styles
Sam Macpherson 020 3727 1000
Notes to editors
Motorpoint is the largest independent vehicle retailer in the
United Kingdom. The Group's principal business is the sale of
nearly-new vehicles, the majority of which are up to two years old
and which have covered less than 15,000 miles. Motorpoint sells
vehicles from brands representing over 95 per cent of new vehicle
sales in the United Kingdom, with models from Ford, Vauxhall,
Volkswagen, Nissan, Hyundai, Audi and BMW being amongst the top
sellers. The Group operates from 13 retail sites across the United
Kingdom: Birmingham, Birtley, Burnley, Castleford, Chingford,
Derby, Glasgow, Newport, Oldbury, Peterborough, Sheffield, Swansea
and Widnes, of which five have opened in the last five years;
together with a national contact-centre dealing with online
enquiries.
More information is available at www.motorpointplc.com and
www.motorpoint.co.uk .
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
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contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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