By Scott Wright
SPACEANDPEOPLE, the shopping mall marketing specialist, has delayed the publication of its results for 2019 and cancelled its proposed final dividend amid the fall-out from the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis.
And it warned the pandemic will “undoubtedly have a significant effect” on trading this year.
The Glasgow-based firm, which leases out space and kiosks in shopping centres and railway stations on behalf of landlords, said the crisis has already led to a “substantial fall in sales activity” at its venues in the UK and Germany.
The company said it is no longer able to provide guidance on its financial performance for 2020 given the continuing uncertainty.
It told the City: “As a result of Covid-19, we have in recent days seen a substantial reduction in the level of sales activity across our portfolio of venues in both the UK and Germany.
“The full extent and duration of these disruptions is not yet known, but it will undoubtedly have a significant effect on the company’s trading in 2020.
“As a result, the company is removing the proposal to pay a final dividend of 0.75 pence per share in relation to the 2019 results as one of a number of measures being taken in order to protect the business and conserve cash during this period.”
Although it has delayed the publication of its results for 2019, the company said it does not expect any significant change to the market expectation for the period ended December 31.
It said it will now announce its results for 2019 on April 27, giving it more time to assess the impact of Covid-19 on the business.
In a pre-close trading update published on February 3, the company reported that, at £7.7 million, revenue for the year was lower than expected. Stronger than expected trading in its promotions divisions, which includes mobile kiosks, in the fourth quarter was offset by subdued trading in its retail operations.
SpaceandPeople made a loss of £415,00 on revenue of £7.9m for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Shares closed down 21.4%, or 1.5p, at 5.5p.
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