SSP Group, a leading operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, has announced its financial results for the year ended 30 September 2020.
SSP responded rapidly to Covid-19, taking extensive action to protect its people, raise additional liquidity and reduce its cost base, leaving it strongly placed to capitalise on the recovery of the travel sector.
Financial highlights:
> Revenue of £1,433.1m: down 47.9% at constant currency; 48.7% at actual exchange rates.
> Like-for-like sales down 50.8%: heavily impacted by Covid-19 and the closure of most of the global
travel markets since March.
> Operating loss of £363.9m on a reported basis under IFRS 16, including non-underlying net operating costs of £48.5m. On a pro forma IAS 17 basis, the underlying operating loss was £211.7m (2019: £221.1m profit).
> Loss before tax of £425.8m on a reported basis under IFRS 16. On a pro forma IAS 17 basis, the underlying loss before tax was £239.6m (2019: £203.2m profit).
Simon Smith, CEO of SSP Group, said, “Covid-19 continues to have an unprecedented impact on the travel industry and on SSP’s businesses in all geographies.
'We have taken rapid and decisive action to reduce costs, preserve cash and to substantially strengthen the Group’s financial position. I want to thank our teams for their dedication and professionalism during this time, especially when faced with extremely difficult decisions.
'Our priority continues to be the health, safety and welfare of our people and our customers, and this has been front of mind as we’ve reopened our units. By renegotiating rents, rationalising our menus and reducing our unit overheads, we’ve created a new, more flexible operating model.
'This has allowed us to respond rapidly to passenger demand, successfully re-opening more than a third of our units by the end of September and delivering an important service to the travelling public.
“Whilst we expect passenger numbers to remain subdued over the winter, we are optimistic that, alongside good progress with the vaccination programme, we will see a significant upturn in both domestic and international travel from the Spring.
'We are ready to respond quickly. The actions we are taking to rebuild the business will put us in a strong position to capitalise on the recovery as well as future new business opportunities, enabling us to deliver long term sustainable growth for the benefit of all our stakeholders.”