A minnow to Watch16 May 2008 17:07
Not seen a lot of trading and hence the wide Spread however Maypole Group Plc posted a narrower full-year pretax loss on higher revenues, but said current trading is marginally below its expectations, with like-for-like sales for the first quarter of 2008 slightly below the corresponding period in 2007.
However, the company noted that sales was affected in part by Easter falling particularly early this year, and so this is not a straight comparison.
The UK countryside hotels with restaurants group posted a pretax loss of 213,245 pounds for the year to end-December, against 253,840 pounds loss last year. Revenues rose to 5.16 million pounds from 3.01 million pounds last year. The company said its new acquisitions are performing well, with increased synergies across the portfolio, and added that against a backdrop of reduced discretionary consumer spending, its performance has remained robust.
It said it remains encouraged by its overall performance in difficult economic conditions, and that it is firmly focused on adding further hotels to its existing portfolio.
Meanwhile, in view of ongoing expansion plans and long term growth prospects, Maypole said it does not expect to pay a dividend for the foreseeable future.