Young’s Brewery Financing and Dividend Update
29 May 2020
Young’s Brewery has issued a financing and dividend update today.Financing Update
On 13 May 2020, Young’s announced changes and proposed changes to its financing arrangements and provides the following update:
· All the Company’s lending banks have now replaced the Company’s financial covenant tests at June, September and December this year and at March next year with an additional monthly £20 million available liquidity test through to and including June 2021. They have also waived any technical ‘cessation of business’ breach resulting from the group’s pubs being closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
· The Company has now entered into its new £50 million syndicated term loan facility with NatWest and HSBC. This facility has been drawn and used to repay in full the £50 million syndicated facility with RBS and Barclays that was due to expire in March 2021.
· The Company has also now entered into its new £20 million bilateral revolving credit facility with NatWest. The Company does not now intend to draw on this facility but instead retain it as available liquidity to help the Company meet the liquidity test referred to above. This new facility matures next May, and the Company has the option early next year to request an extension of its maturity date by six months and can do the same again later next year. In deciding whether to make either of these requests, the Company’s board will take into consideration the fact that no dividend can be declared, made or paid whilst any part of this facility is drawn and that this facility, if undrawn, will be cancelled if any dividend is declared, made or paid.
Dividend Update
In view of the ongoing closure of the Company’s pubs, the expected lower levels of trade when they re-open and the terms of the new revolving credit facility, the Company will not be paying an interim dividend for the current financial year ending 29 March 2021. The Company’s board is very mindful of the importance of dividends to Young’s shareholders and intends resuming dividend payments as soon as is practicable, but no decisions have been made about when that will be.
