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(Alliance News) - Joules Group PLC on Thursday said trading has been stung by the Covid-19 outbreak, with the retailer seeing reduced footfall in shop and even its e-commerce sales being hurt.
The British country lifestyles retailer said it has cancelled its interim dividend, pocketing saving of GBP700,000, and added that it has GBP16 million in cash alongside a "strong relationship with its lender" and its "supportive founder".
Joules shares climbed 37% to 54.94 pence each in London on Thursday. In the year to date, however, the stock has lost 76%.
The company added that since publishing its interim numbers on January 21, its retail channels have "performed in line with expectations".
"However, since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK, the group has experienced a decline in store footfall and revenue, which has significantly accelerated over recent days. The group's e-commerce channel has also been impacted, albeit to a lesser extent, as consumers have shown increasing caution with their disposable income. These trends are also likely to impact the group's sales through its concession and wholesale trading partners in the UK and internationally. The board expects Covid-19 to continue to have an impact on its business and the retail sector over the coming months. However, given the level of continued uncertainty, the board is not able to provide financial guidance at this stage," Joules said.
"The group currently has GBP16 million cash headroom, a strong relationship with its bank, Barclays Bank PLC, and a supportive founder and major shareholder, Tom Joule. The board continues to plan for multiple scenarios and explore various ways to mitigate the impact of reduced demand for a potentially extended period of time. The board welcomes the measures that the UK government has thus far announced to support retailers and impacted employees across the sector. However, we strongly echo the position of the British Retail Consortium and other senior retail leaders that more urgent action is needed to provide support to those working in retail during these challenging and uncertain times."
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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