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Fuller, Smith & Turner (FSTA) said costs associated with the £250m sale if its brewing business to Japanese drinks giant Asahi have “transpired to be materially higher than expected” warning its annual profits will take a hit from the sale.
The pub chain and hotel operator said it expects the current level of overhead to continue until May next year, with pre-tax profits for the year ending 28 March 2020 to be “broadly in line with the prior year” in the region of £31m.
“This is a transitional year for the company following the sale of the brewing business and subsequent separation of a highly integrated business,” CEO Simon Emeny said. “There have been many moving parts to navigate and we have incurred some greater than anticipated costs as a result which have had a short term impact on our financial performance.”
He added: “Our strategy remains on track and we will continue to execute our growth ambitions and maximise the opportunities open to us as a focused pubs and hotel business.”
Sales for the 32 weeks to 9 November rose 5.2% and were up 2.3% on a like-for-like basis.
Fuller, Smith and Turner shares started the day crashing down 12% to 922.26p.
Morning update
The owners of Capri-Sun have invested a further £1.5m in low-sugar ice cream brand Oppo as it looks to grow the brand internationally.
HP Wild Holding, the family investment office of Capri-Sun owner and Swiss billionaire Hans-Peter Wild, has taken a further equity stake worth about 16% of the group, according to newly filed documents.
The investment is in addition to the December 2018 transaction that offered Oppo’s crowdfunders an opportunity to cash out for a profit.
Oppo’s most recent statement of capital before the latest equity investment showed HP Wild with a 15.5% stake.
Oppo co-founder and MD Harry Thuillier said the new investment represented the conversion of a £1.5m loan from HP Wild into equity.
He added HP Wild was continuing to purchase shares from Seedrs crowdfunding shareholders and had given Oppo access to an ongoing cash facility for working capital to finance a growth push into Europe.
Capri-Sun’s most senior executives, CEO Roland Weening and CFO Remko Wessels, have taken seats on the Oppo board.
“This level of support means they want significant ownership in Oppo to share in the success they want to help facilitate,” Thuillier said. Their support would also help “guide our decision-making, create value fast and finance global growth”.
Weening said Oppo had “strong, global brand potential and will be going places, even more so now with our backing.”
In this week’s issue of The Grocer, also read about halal baby food brand For Aisha recieving a ‘major seven-figure’ private equity investment and an upcoming crowdfunding campaign to be launched by Farmdrop.
Visit https://www.thegrocer.co.uk/finance for more details.
The FTSE 100 opened 0.5% higher at 7,328.88pts.
Risers included Associated British Foods (ABF) recovering from yesterday’s fall up 0.9% at 2,462p, Ds Smith (SMDS) up 0.8% at 388.30p and Marks & Spencer (MKS) up 0.9% at 174.95p.
British American Toballco (BATS) began the day down 0.4% at 2,888.50p, Coca Cola HBC (CCH) fell 0.4% to 2,545p and Tate & Lyle (TATE) opened 0.4% lower at 712.80p.
Yesterday in the City
The FTSE 100 closed in the red, falling 0.8% to 7,292.76pts.
Fallers saw Associated British Foods (AFB) close 1.1% lower at 2,450p, Tesco (TSCO) fall 0.3% to 231.30p, Sainsbury’s down 2.2% to 201.50p and Marks & Spencer (MKS) down 3% to 174.90p.
Greggs (GRG) closed down 3.3% at 2,044p, while Unilever (ULVR) dropped 0.3% to 4,610.50p.
Among the risers, Coca Cola HBC (CCH) closed 2.5% higher at 2,566p, Ocado closed 2.3% higher at 1,160p and Just Eat (JE) ended the day up 1% at 746.60p.
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