REG - Merit Group PLC - Lease Disposal

MeritAnnouncement

27/03/2023 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:20230327:nRSa2288Ua&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 2288U  Merit Group PLC  27 March 2023

27 March 2023

 

 

Merit Group plc

("Merit", the "Company" or "the Group")

Assignment of lease liability

 

 

Merit Group plc (AIM: MRIT), the data and intelligence business, announces
that it has disposed of the lease relating to its London office in The Shard
by assigning it to a third party.

 

Merit's lease of 16,893 sq ft on the 11(th) floor of The Shard ran until July
2026 at an annualised total cost of £2.1m, giving a total outstanding
cashflow liability over the term of the lease of £7.4m (including
dilapidations). The Group has agreed to pay a total reverse premium of £2.9m
to assign the lease to a third party. After allowing for financing,
alternative accommodation, relocation and other costs the Group estimates that
it will make a cash saving from the assignment of approximately £2.3m over
the remaining term of its lease. The disposal received Landlord's consent and
was completed on 24 March 2023.

 

The Group will fund the costs of the disposal from its existing debt
facilities and a new short term loan of £1.8m, provided by its existing
lender Barclays, which will amortise over 18 months.

 

The Directors expect the disposal of the current lease and the move to
alternative accommodation to reduce recognised profit & loss costs (inc.
post IFRS 16 impact) by approximately £1.4m per annum.

 

David Beck, CEO of Merit Group plc, said;

 

"This agreement will deliver significant cost savings and allow the Group to
improve its free cash flow.

 

"This disposal largely completes the first phase of management's turnaround
plan and leaves the Group with two strong operating businesses that are
profitable, generate cash and benefit from very high levels of recurring or
subscription revenue."

 

 

 

For further information, please contact:

Merit Group plc

David Beck -
CEO
020 7593 5500

www.meritgroupplc.com (http://www.meritgroupplc.com)

 

Canaccord Genuity Limited (Nomad and Broker)

Bobbie
Hilliam
020 7523 8150

Harry Pardoe

 

 

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of article 7 of
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as amended by regulation 11 of the
Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310. With the publication
of this announcement, this information is now considered to be in the public
domain.

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  DISJFMITMTATBBJ