Upper Crust owner SSP Group to tap shareholders for £475m as it awaits easing of travel restrictions
The latest fundraise also marks the second time the firm has turned to shareholders for support during the pandemic.
SSP Group will tap shareholders for £475 million, warning that it might take until 2024 for commuters to return to chains such as Upper Crust and Caffè Ritazza in the same numbers as before the pandemic.
It also secured the extension of bank loans that were due to mature in 2022 and 2024.
“These measures will protect the business if the global travel sector experiences a more prolonged recovery from the pandemic, whilst under SSP's base case scenario, they will strengthen the group's balance sheet and provide increased capacity for investment as the travel market recovers,” the group said.
The operator saw sales slump last year, down 47.9% to £1.4 billion in the 12 months to September, as work from home guidance and international travel restrictions saw footfall at stations and airports drastically go down.
It expects a near full return of passenger numbers to pre-COVID levels by 2024, led by a rebound in domestic and leisure short-haul air and rail travel.
“Notwithstanding the rapid approval of coronavirus vaccines and the global roll-out of vaccination programmes, new variants of the virus, vaccine supply constraints and various lockdown and travel restrictions mean that the pace of the recovery in 2021 has been delayed relative to the group's expectations towards the end of 2020,” it added.
The latest fundraise also marks the second time the firm has turned to shareholders for support during the pandemic. In March last year, it raised £216 million via a share placing.
