RE: Cash reserve30 Jan 2018 09:18
Group Headlines
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Group GTV 5.2% over the Peak Trading Period up and up 3.8% over the first 23 trading weeks of the financial year to 6 January 2018
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UK Retail GTV (including BELONG) up 2.9% and Spain Retail GTV up 6.3% over Peak Trading Period
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Strong GTV growth was achieved from lower margin Hardware, with sales up 25.8% over the Peak Trading Period and up 22.7% over the 23 week period, driven by Nintendo Switch�, continued adoption of PlayStation 4 and the launch of Xbox One X, leading to overall margins for the first 23 weeks to be down by approximately 100 basis points
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Successful delivery of further cost savings in the UK, in excess of the previously estimated full year savings of approximately �4 million, with further cost saving initiatives underway to offset the margin impact of the sales mix change in the UK Retail business
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Continued positive performance in the BELONG arenas, with over 155,000 hours played in the first 23 trading weeks of the financial year to 6 January 2018 (representing a utilisation level of 28.2% vs 21.3% in Q4 last year), with new arena openings planned from February 2018 onwards
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Further positive developments within Esports and Events with Insomnia 62 to be held over the Easter weekend, including the hosting of the Call of Duty ("COD") World League: Birmingham Open, part of the COD World League Global Circuit with a prize pool of US$200,000, and the largest esports event the Group has run to date
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Continued strong liquidity, with Group cash of �67 million on 31 December 2017 (2016: �43 million), and access to aggregate facilities of approximately �86 million across the UK and Spain (2016: �68 million)
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As previously announced, the Multiplay Digital business was sold on 27 November 2017 for cash consideration of �19 million, with 10% of the proceeds held in escrow