REG - McColl's Retail Grp - Morrisons Daily format extended to 450 stores

Mccoll'S RetailAnnouncement

29/11/2021 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20211129:nRSc8041Ta&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 8041T  McColl's Retail Group plc  29 November 2021

29 November 2021

 

McColl's Retail Group plc

 

Morrisons Daily format extended from 350 to 450 stores within 12 months

 

McColl's Retail Group ("McColl's" or "the Company"), the UK's leading
community retailer, is pleased to announce that terms have been agreed with Wm
Morrison Supermarkets Limited ("Morrisons") to extend the number of Morrisons
Daily conversions from 350 to 450 stores. The Company expects to complete all
450 conversions by the end of November 2022, compared to its previous target
of 350 in the same timeframe.

 

Morrisons is extending its support and increasing its contribution to the
enlarged conversion programme.

 

Morrisons Daily stores have a higher grocery mix and wider breadth of product
choice, driving enhanced customer spend, frequency and loyalty.  This
stronger revenue performance, and a return on investment towards the shorter
end of a 2-3 year payback range, underlines McColl's decision to broaden the
Morrisons Daily format across its community store estate.

 

Jonathan Miller, Chief Executive of McColl's, said: "Within 12 months we will
have 450 stores open and trading as Morrisons Daily, representing over a third
of our total community store estate and over half of our sales.  These stores
have a higher grocery mix and wider breadth of product choice which is great
for our customers, and with strong sales growth and better return on
investment, it is great for the Company too. We look forward to continue
working closely with Morrisons in the years ahead."

 

Update on banking discussions

Our lending banks remain supportive, and discussions are ongoing which are
expected to conclude by the publication of full year results in March 2022, at
which point a further update will be given.

 

In the meantime, agreement has been reached to defer a financial covenant test
due on 28 November 2021 to 31 December 2021, and thereafter it is expected to
roll on a monthly basis. This will allow additional time for the Company to
work constructively with its lending banks in regard to the terms of agreement
for the upcoming financial year and the balance of the facility, which matures
in February 2024.

 

Next scheduled announcement

McColl's expects to publish a full-year trading update for the 52 weeks to 28
November 2021 on 8 December 2021, in which we will also provide greater
insight into the performance of the Morrisons Daily format and an update on
availability.

 

Enquiries

Please visit www.mccollsplc.co.uk (http://www.mccollsplc.co.uk) or for further
information, please contact:

 

 

   Analyst & Investors:       Tej Randhawa, McColl's    +44 (0)1277 372916

   Media:                     Ed Young, Headland        +44 (0)203 805 4822

                              Rob Walker, Headland      mccolls@headlandconsultancy.com

                              Charlie Twigg, Headland

 

Notes to editors

McColl's is a leading community retailer, with an estate of c. 1,200 managed
convenience stores and newsagents. We operate McColl's and Morrisons Daily
branded convenience stores as well as newsagents branded Martin's across the
UK, except in Scotland where we operate under our heritage brand, RS McColl.

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014

 

LEI: 213800R1TLR536P8YJ67

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  MSCXVLLLFFLFFBF