(Alliance News) - St Modwen Properties PLC on Wednesday said Covid-19 has forced it to postpone its annual general meeting, meaning its final dividend, which needed shareholder approval, has also been pushed back.
St Modwen, which proposed a 5.1 pence final dividend, was due to host its AGM on Friday.
The company said it has GBP169 million in cash available with no debt maturities until December 2023, save for a GBP2 million share of a joint-venture facility.
St Modwen also conducted "stress tests" to assess the impact of a prolonged Covid-19-induced downturn and whether it could meet its banking covenants. The assessment implies a "significant fall in housing sales for the remainder of the year and a substantial and sustained fall in retail rental income".
The company added: "We believe that with a number of already identified mitigating measures we would have enough headroom before our interest cover covenants are threatened for the next 12 months.
"St Modwen had a positive start to 2020. However, the unprecedented recent events related to Covid-19 have started to cause significant disruption to the global and UK economy. The duration and magnitude of this disruption and hence the impact on our financial results are impossible to predict at present, so our current focus is on making sure our employees and customers are safe, our balance sheet remains strong and our liquidity remains high."
Shares in the company were 4.6% higher at 336.78p each in London on Wednesday morning.
By Eric Cunha; ericcunha@alliancenews.com
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