Crawshaw shares slide after interim report shows wider losses
Meat-focused retailer Crawshaw Group higher increased pre-tax losses in the first half of its trading year due to a weaker sterling forcing its gross margin down 1.5%, but said that it had seen "positive customer and sales momentum" from the first half carry over into the third quarter.
Crawshaw Group
2.00p
11:44 05/12/18
Food & Drug Retailers
4,125.67
17:09 10/05/24
FTSE AIM All-Share
789.87
16:50 10/05/24
Crawshaw said its pre-tax loss in the six months leading to 30 July had grown from £394,000 in 2016 to £1.2m just twelve months later, principally due to exceptional costs arising as a result of its supply chain partnership and subscription agreement Invest Co 1 which saw the latter acquire 29.72% of Crawshaw's issued share capital.
Over the half, revenue saw a slight bump, up 2.3% to £22.1m, despite a 4.2% decline in like-for-like sales and a 3.5% decrease in customer numbers, but the firm said its food-to-go products had returned to growth by the end of the second quarter, and fresh meat customer numbers improved in the second quarter when measured against those seen at the end of the first.
EBITDA came to £200,000 at the end of the half, as opposed to the £300,000 it reported at the same time twelve months prior.
Cash and equivalents on hand came to £6.8m, a 51% increase on 31 July 2016, that Crawshaw said it would use to accelerate its factory shop roll-out.
Jim McCarthy, Crawshaw's chairman, said "Since joining Crawshaw earlier this year, I have been impressed by the progress that Noel and the team are making. The accelerated rollout of the successful factory shop format is strengthening the business's reputation for delivering amazing value, which is underpinned by the transformational supply agreement with 2Sisters. Crawshaw is one of the most exciting businesses in the value sector and the Board is confident that all the work done this year means the business is well set to create value for investors."
As of 1510 BST, Crawshaw Group shares had slipped 12.20% to 18.00p.