Abbeycrest reports total turnover loss 15.0% to £70.2m

28 Jun '06

6 min read

For the year ended 28th February 2006 Group turnover reduced by 15.0 percent to £70.2m. Loss before taxation on continuing operations was £7.1m (2005 - £0.1m). Loss before taxation and exceptional items was £3.6m (2005 - £1.5m profit). After tax, minority interest and exceptional items the loss attributable to equity shareholders was £7.8m (2005 - £0.3m). Basic loss per share was 31.1p (2005 – 1.2p).

Dividends
In the light of the results for the year the directors are unable to recommend payment of a dividend.

Balance Sheet
In difficult circumstances, control over working capital has been excellent. Whilst the gold price has increased by 40 percent from year-end to year-end, the level of stock held by the Group has reduced by £3.6m (13.4 percent). More noteworthy is the fact that Net Debt has increased only slightly year on year by around £180,000 despite the trading losses suffered and the exceptional costs noted in more detail below.

Overview
The year under review has been an extraordinarily challenging one for the Group. The difficulties experienced were as follows:-

1. Re-banking
A re-banking process was forced on the Group at short notice and to an extremely demanding timetable. This process has taken up a substantial element of senior management time since December.

Included in exceptional items for the year are the following expenses:-
• Additional bank fees and charges £210,000
• Accountants monitoring fees imposed by the bank £254,000 and other due diligence and legal charges

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