Trading update

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR").

23 March 2020

The Fulham Shore PLC

Trading update

The Board of The Fulham Shore PLC ("Fulham Shore" or the "Group") is today  providing an update on trading ahead of the end of Fulham Shore's financial year on 29 March 2020.

Until recently we were on target to meet or slightly exceed market expectations for the current financial year. Due to decelerating trading in February and March from the impact of Covid-19, we now anticipate that we will marginally undershoot those expectations.

The majority of our Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurants were closed temporarily as of Friday 20 March 2020. This was a result of a direct instruction from the UK Government.

Some of our sites remain open, continuing to serve our customers through our delivery, take away and click and collect services. Above all, throughout this period we continue to work hard to ensure the health and safety of our team members, our customers and our partners.

We are following the UK Government's and health authorities' guidelines. Our dine-in restaurants will remain closed until the UK Government advises otherwise.

We are therefore in the unhappy position of having to reduce all of our costs to a minimum. These include, amongst others, property and staffing costs. We are likely, however, to benefit from the business rates holiday and the assistance to be provided by the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme for the employees of our closed restaurants. We have also taken the decision to halt all but our basic capital expenditure in order to better manage our cash flow.

We are working with our many partners, landlords, HM Revenue and Customs and our staff to reduce our outgoings to the  basic minimum as we note much of the UK Government's business support plans will not pay out for some weeks yet. Our lenders are supportive and we have sufficient undrawn facilities available to manage the business through any anticipated period of closure.

The situation is evolving rapidly with new guidelines being introduced by the UK Government every day. There is currently little certainty around the duration of the impact on the the Group.

Our two popular restaurant businesses offer delicious food at great prices. Despite the impact of the current situation, we remain confident that the two businesses will thrive once the market returns to normal.

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