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(Alliance News) - McColl's Retail Group PLC said on Wednesday it had achieved "significant strategic progress" despite Covid-19 and UK supply chain disruptions scuppering revenue growth.
For the year ended 28 November, the Brentwood-based convenience store and newsagent operator said revenue fell 11% to GBP1.1 billion from GBP1.3 billion the previous year. McColl's said the drop was principally due to UK supply chain disruptions in the second half of the year.
On a year-on-year basis, like-for-like sales had declined by 3.3% compared to a growth of 12% the previous year. McColl's added that two-year like-for-like sales had grown 9.1%, higher than its pre-pandemic level which was flat in 2019.
McColl's said its post-IFRS 16 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation is expected to be between GBP46 million to GBP48 million. In 2020, its adjusted Ebitda was GBP57.9 million.
McColl's added that they were ahead of schedule in its Morrisons Daily store roll-out with a total of 185 stores trading at year-end. As a result, McColl's have increased their Morrisons Daily conversion target for 2022 from 350 to 450 stores.
Chief Executive Jonathan Miller said: "FY21 has undoubtedly been a tough year for the business, starting with the impact of COVID-19 restrictions and ending with the widely reported and ongoing supply chain challenges. Although we have been able to partly mitigate these external factors, they have still had a significant impact on underlying trading.
"Despite this, we have made excellent progress on the strategic initiatives which are firmly within our control, including the accelerated roll-out of Morrisons Daily conversions within our estate, which is ahead of our expectations. These Morrisons Daily stores are generating strong sales growth and enhanced return on investment. In less than a year's time we expect over half our revenues to be delivered by this fascia, bringing branded, supermarket-quality convenience to our customers, with material scope to deploy further into our estate."
Shares in McColl's were up 2.5% at 12.25 pence on Wednesday in London.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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