Tennent’s Lager owner C&C Group has said it is losing more than £6 million a month while pubs and restaurants are closed amid the coronavirus crisis.
The Irish group, which also owns the Magners and Bulmers cider brands, said this was after around £4.5m a month in support for furloughed employees. About 70% of its staff are currently retained under these schemes.
C&C said it had made no sales through pubs and restaurants since lockdowns came into effect across the UK and Ireland, but was focusing efforts on switching to sales through retailers and off-licences in the off-trade market.
Total sales by volume of Magners in Britain slumped 7% in April and May, but it enjoyed a 25% surge in the off-trade. Its Bulmers Irish cider saw total volumes tumble 16% in the past two months, though off-trade soared 62%.
Pubs and restaurants have remained shuttered across Ireland since mid-March and late March in the UK, and are not expected to open until early July to control the spread of the pandemic.
The details of lockdown trading came as it posted a 12.1% rise in pre-tax profits to £92.8m for the year to February 29.
Brexit warning as extension deadline looms
Billions of pounds could be wiped from Scotland's economy if the UK Government refuses to extend the Brexit transition period, a new report is expected to say.
The Scottish Government is to publish the paper ahead of Constitution Secretary Mike Russell updating MSPs at Holyrood. It comes as the July 1 deadline for the UK Government to request an extension to the Brexit transition period approaches.
The new report is thought to indicate there could be major costs to Scotland's economy from Brexit for years to come and that, without an extension or a free trade deal being agreed, agriculture, fisheries and manufacturing could all be hit hard.
"Given the huge economic hit caused by coronavirus it would be an act of extraordinary recklessness for the UK Government to refuse to seek an extension,” Mr Russell said.
"The Scottish Government believes the best future for Scotland is to be an independent member of the EU - but regardless of people's views on independence or Brexit, it makes no sense to impose additional damage on Scotland's economy at this, of all times.”
Profits slump at car dealership
The UK’s fifth-largest motor retailer, Vertu, has revealed combined losses of £20 million for April and May due to the impact of the coronavirus lockdown.
The owner of the Macklin Motors dealership, which has branches across Scotland including those in Glasgow, Paisley and Dunfermline, said underlying pre-tax profits slumped to £5.9m in March as the Covid-19 crisis deepened and the UK was placed in lockdown. This was “well below” normal levels of profitability.
But Vertu said the April and May losses were "significantly" better than the lockdown losses it first feared.
The firm, which has a network of 133 sales and after-sales outlets across the UK, said its car showrooms reopened across England on June 1 with social distancing in place. It expects to resume trading at its Scottish outlets in "due course".
The crisis also saw the group's statutory pre-tax profits crash 71% to £7.3m in the year to February 29 after it took a £14.4m hit relating to coronavirus.
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