31 Mar 2020 07:00
Date of issue: 31 March 2020
LEI: 213800WMV4WVES8TQH05
This announcement contains inside information
ST. MODWEN PROPERTIES PLC
("St. Modwen" or "the Company")
Employee financial support and final dividend cancellation
The unprecedented events related to COVID-19 continue to cause material disruption to the global and UK economy. As we outlined in our announcement on 25 March 2020, St. Modwen has a strong liquidity position, with £169m of cash on a see-through basis, a low see-through LTV of 22.8% and no significant debt maturities until December 2023. Given the positive long-term fundamentals of the Company's key business activities, the Board of St. Modwen remains confident that we remain well positioned for the future.
As part of last week's update on our operations, we announced the decision to pause all housebuilding and on-site marketing activity by St. Modwen Homes. As a direct consequence of this decision together with a pause in other on-site activities, a number of employees are now home-based and not currently working. Last week, we also welcomed the Government's actions to support the economy, and can today confirm that we have now placed just over 200 employees, being approximately one third of the Company's workforce, on 'furlough', utilising the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. We have taken the decision to top up all salaries of those on furlough to ensure everyone is paid their normal salary in full and, at the same time, the Board has voluntarily agreed to accept a 20% reduction in pay and fees.
In light of these unprecedented circumstances, the Board of St. Modwen believes it is not now appropriate to pay its final dividend for 2019 and has taken the decision to withdraw its recommendation that the proposed amount of 5.1 pence per share (or £11.3m in the aggregate) be paid on 3 April 2020. Accordingly, Resolution 4, as set out in the notice of annual general meeting of the Company dated 14 February 2020, will be withdrawn and will not be proposed at the annual general meeting of the Company. The Board has balanced the needs of all of the Company's stakeholders in reaching this decision.
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Enquiries: |
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St. Modwen Properties PLC |
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Mark Allan, Chief Executive | Tel: 0121 222 9400 | |
Rob Hudson, Chief Finance and Operations Officer | www.stmodwen.co.uk | |
Tom Gough, Head of External Communications and Stakeholder Relations |
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FTI Consulting |
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Dido Laurimore | Tel: 020 3727 1000 | |
Ellie Sweeney | stmodwen@fticonsulting.com | |
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This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology, including the terms "believes", "estimates", "anticipates", "expects", "intends", "plans", "goal", "target", "aim", "may", "will", "would", "could" or "should" or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements by their nature, involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to future events and circumstances. Actual outcomes and results may differ materially from any outcomes or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company are made in good faith based on the information available at the time the statement is made; no representation or warranty is given in relation to them, including as to their completeness or accuracy or the basis on which they were prepared. The Company does not undertake to update forward looking statements to reflect any changes in its expectations with regard thereto or any changes in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast.
The person responsible for arranging the release of this information on behalf of the Company is Mark Allan, Chief Executive.