// Hotel Chocolat launches 20m fundraising round to offset store closures due to Covid-19
// Mother’s Day& Easter account for around 12% of the retailers total annual revenue
Hotel Chocolat has launched a £20m fundraising round to offset the effects of any possible store closures as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
The retailer warned it could be forced to shutter some or all of its stores and that the fundraising round was launched to bolster its balance sheet with the crucial Mother’s Day and Easter periods looming.
Hotel Chocolat’s revenue fell 5 per cent this month as footfall continues to drop.
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The retailer said in a statement that Mother’s Day and Easter usually make up about 12 per cent of the company’s annual revenue.
“Considering the challenges faced due to Covid-19, the group is undertaking a placing to raise £20m which should not only provide the growth capital required but also provide additional flexibility if it so becomes needed over the next few months.”
‘The Hotel Chocolat brand is strong and the company’s longer-term growth plans and opportunities in the UK, the US and Japan remain unchanged,’ it said.
“During these uncertain times the company continues to remain focused on protecting its staff and customers.”
The premium retailer said it has taken to reduce the impact of Covid-19 virus by rebalancing inventories toward online and digital wholesale.
It “maintains a strong relationship with its lending bank and cash on the balance sheet and is also undertaking proactive measures to reduce costs, optimise working capital and preserve cash.”
The retailer said that trading both in the UK and USA and Japan had been encouraging up to the end of February with revenues increasing by six per cent year-on-year in February.
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