REG - Reach PLC - Reach plc - Trading Update

ReachAnnouncement

20/01/2025 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20250120:nRST9236Ta&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 9236T  Reach PLC  20 January 2025

20 January 2025

Reach plc ("the Company")

 

Q424 Trading update and full year guidance

Trading in Q4 was strong. As a result, we now expect to deliver results ahead
of current market expectations for the full year.¹

 

Additional funding to West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme

The West Ferry Printers Pension Scheme (WF Scheme) is a legacy scheme
inherited in the 2018 acquisition of Express Newspapers. As part of the due
diligence to prepare the WF Scheme for buy-out, a historical error has been
discovered resulting in an estimated £5m additional funding requirement,
which we expect to pay in 2025. We have reviewed our other schemes for the
same error, and we have not identified any material items. This is unrelated
to the 2022 triennial pension valuations for our remaining schemes which
remain unchanged.

 

Completion of refinancing

The Company completed refinancing of its banking facilities. The facility
comprises a £145m Revolving Credit Facility ("RCF"), with a four-year
maturity to December 2028 including an option to extend by up to one year. The
RCF also includes a £72.5m uncommitted accordion facility. The financial
covenants are unchanged.(2)

 

The Company is scheduled to report full year results on 4 March 2025.

 

 

 

Notes

 ¹    Market expectations compiled by the Company are an average of analyst
      published forecasts - consensus adjusted operating profit for FY24 £97.8m.
 (2)  Financial covenants Interest cover: (Adjusted) profit before Interest and tax
      (PBIT) to net interest payable >5.0 Leverage: Net Borrowings to (Adjusted)
      EBITDA <1.75

 

 

 Enquiries
 Reach plc                                 Investorrelations@reachplc.com
 Jim Mullen, Chief Executive Officer
 Darren Fisher, Chief Financial Officer
 Jo Britten, Investor Relations            +44 (0)7557 557447

 Teneo                                     reachplc@teneo.com (mailto:reachplc@teneo.com)
 David Allchurch/Giles Kernick             +44 (0)207 353 4200

 

 

LEI: 213800GNI5XF3XOATR61

Classification:  3.1 Additional regulated information required to be
disclosed under the laws of the United Kingdom

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  TSTKKLFFEFLXBBZ