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WASPS TO MISS COVENANTS OVER £35M BONDS
3 Jul 2020 Midlands Business Jon Robinson
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The company behind Premiership rugby side Wasps and the Ricoh Arena in Coventry is to not meet certain financial covenants under its £35m secured bonds due to the Covifd-19 pandemic, it has been revealed.
Wasps Finance plc, in an update to the London Stock Exchange, said it now anticipates that they will not be satisfied when Wasps Holdings Ltd's audited annual financial results are published for 30 June 2020.
The company said it had been trading in line with expectations during the first nine months of the financial year prior to the lockdown.
The health measures meant the closure of the Ricoh Arena to all events since 21 March, which "had a significant impact on the group's business and operations".
The bonds, set at 6.50 per cent, are due in 2022.
The company added that the group is "reviewing its business strategy for a post-Covid environment and for the long term".
A statement said: "The group's management had prepared for the possibility of lockdown and therefore was able to implement its closedown plan effectively and efficiently.
"Alongside the government support initiatives, including the CJRS and the cash savings as a result of the one year exemption from business rates, together with the deferral of VAT and PAYE payments, management has taken a number of actions to reduce costs, preserve cash and maintain liquidity.
"The board of directors of the issuer, Wasps Holdings Limited and Arena Coventry Limited are actively engaging with relevant stakeholders and pursuing further initiatives to support the group during this period and through to the reopening of the Ricoh Arena.
"As part of its reopening plans, the group is reviewing its business strategy for a post-Covid environment and for the long term.
"The health and well-being of the group's staff and users of the Ricoh Arena remain of paramount importance.
"Prior to lockdown, the group had been adhering to government guidelines and implementing social distancing measures.
"During the lockdown, it has continued to follow the latest official guidance at the Ricoh Arena and elsewhere across its business.
"The group has a comprehensive reopening plan in place, with detailed operating procedures to ensure team member and visitor health and wellbeing.
"It has already held a number of positive conversations with customers already impacted by the government restrictions and successfully rescheduled a number of events to 2021.
"This is in anticipation of the public health restrictions being relaxed leading to the gradual reopening of the Ricoh Arena."
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