(Alliance News) - Hotel Chocolat Group PLC on Monday said online sales failed to fully offset a total sales loss as a result of store closures in the key three-week Easter period.
The company however, added it is encouraged by the "agility and resilience" of the business model and continues to explore further avenues for online growth.
The chocolate retailer closed all its stores on March 23 in line with the UK government imposed lockdown measures.
Co-founder & Chief Executive Angus Thirlwell said: "Our market leadership in digital and subscription chocolate is more valuable than ever and we will accelerate the planned innovations and investments behind these models. Plans are in progress to re-open our physical locations when appropriate, with adjustments in place to make shopping with us safe and pleasurable again.
"Every day at Easter the online demand exceeded the quantity of orders we could accept, due to the requirements to ensure safe working, combined with the short adjustment period. With the plans we are putting in place over the next months, we aim to be able to switch the vast majority of demand to online should the need arise in the future".
Hotel Chocolat also said that it has secured an increase to its banking facilities, in the form of a new GBP35 million revolving credit facility with Lloyds Bank PLC, which replaces an existing GBP10 million overdraft facility.
The company also in March had raised GBP22 million via an equity placing to fund growth and to provide operational headroom.
The new GBP35 million loan is comprised of two separate tranches, a GBP25 million loan under the UK government's Covid corporate loan scheme and a further GBP10 million facility provided on normal commercial terms
Hotel Chocolat additionally said that it has undertaken a broad range of actions to manage its costs and cash flow since the start of the UK lock-down in March.
Shares in the company were up 0.8% at 332.50 pence each in London on Monday morning.
By Tapan Panchal; tapanpanchal@alliancenews.com
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