7 December 2022
FULL YEAR RESULTS
(For the 52 weeks ended 24 September 2022)
Highlights
| – | Like-for-like salesa growth for the year of 1.1% against FY 2019 (pre Covid-19) |
| – | Excluding the impact of utilities, profits broadly recovered to pre Covid-19 levels |
| – | Encouraging start to the new year with like-for-like salesa growth of 6.5% against FY 2022 in ten weeks since the end of the financial year (9.2% growth against FY 2019) |
Reported results
| ––– | Total revenue of £2,208m (FY 2021 £1,065m)Operating profit of £124m (FY 2021 £81m)Profit before tax of £8m (FY 2021 £(42)m loss) |
| – | Basic earnings per share of 2.2p (FY 2021 (11.5)p loss) |
Trading results
| – | Adjusted operating profita £240m (FY 2021 £29m) |
| – | Adjusted earnings per sharea 18.0p (FY 2021 (13.6)p loss) |
Balance sheet and cash flow
| – | Cash inflow before bond amortisation of £71m (FY 2021 inflow £174m, including gross equity proceeds of £351m) |
| – | Cash balances on hand of £190m at year end (FY 2021 £227m) with undrawn unsecured committed financing facilities of £150m to February 2024 |
| – | Net debta reduced to £1,198m (FY 2021 £1,270m), excluding £481m of IFRS 16 lease liabilities (FY 2021 £513m) |
| – | Net assets increased to £2,143m (FY 2021 £2,104m) |
Phil Urban, Chief Executive, commented:
“The trading environment remains highly challenging, with cost inflation continuing to put pressure on margins and we are ever mindful of the pressures that the UK consumer is facing. However, we are encouraged by the strength of sales growth at the end of last financial year which has improved further into the early weeks of this year.
We remain focused on the delivery of our Ignite programme with existing and new initiatives driving cost efficiencies and increased sales, alongside our capital investment programme. Combined with our diverse portfolio of well-known brands, value proposition, strong estate locations and talented people, we are well positioned to face both the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
Definitions
a – The Directors use a number of alternative performance measures (APMs) that are considered critical to aid the understanding of the Group’s performance. APMs are explained later in this announcement.
There will be a presentation held today at 8:30am accessible by phone on 020 3936 2999, access code: 643020 and at https://www.netroadshow.com/events/login?show=dc48af11&confId=43454 The slides will also be available on the website at www.mbplc.com The replay will then be available at http://www.mbplc.com/fy2022/analystspresentation
All disclosed documents relating to these results are available on the Group’s website at www.mbplc.com
For further information, please contact:
| Tim Jones – Chief Financial Officer | +44(0)121 498 6112 |
| George Kitchen – Investor Relations | +44(0)121 498 6514 |
| James Murgatroyd (Finsbury) | +44(0)20 7251 3801 |
Note for editors:
Mitchells & Butlers is a leading operator of managed restaurants and pubs. Its portfolio of brands and formats includes Harvester, Toby Carvery, All Bar One, Miller & Carter, Premium Country Pubs, Sizzling Pubs, Stonehouse, Vintage Inns, Browns, Castle, Nicholson’s, O’Neill’s and Ember Inns. In addition, it operates Innkeeper’s Collection hotels in the UK and Alex restaurants and bars in Germany. Further details are available at www.mbplc.com and supporting photography can be downloaded at www.mbplc.com/imagelibrary .
CURRENT TRADING AND OUTLOOK
Since the year end, we have been encouraged by like-for-like salesa growth of 6.5% as compared to FY 2022, which equates to growth of 11.1% excluding the VAT benefit in place last year. Comparing to FY 2019 pre Covid-19, like-for-like salesa have grown by 9.2%.
The continued recovery of sales is encouraging, with a general return to office working, city centres becoming stronger and guests across the country becoming ever more confident to return to the hospitality sector. This makes us cautiously optimistic about the future, although we remain very mindful of the potential implications of the cost-of-living challenge facing guests, which is expected to persist at least through the year ahead.
Cost inflation headwinds continue to present a significant challenge for the sector as a whole, notably in energy, food and wages but now evident throughout our supply chains. Overall for the current year, we anticipate an inflationary cost headwind across our c.£1.8 billion cost base in the region of 10-12% before mitigation. The Energy Price Guarantee from the Government for businesses for 6 months from 1 October 2022 was welcome but energy costs are still expected to increase this year and significant uncertainty remains over the second half. At the current time we have bought forward 45% of this financial year’s anticipated energy requirement.
The trading environment therefore remains very challenging. However, based on recent sales performance, the strength and diversity of our portfolio of brands, delivery of a new wave of efficiency initiatives under our proven Ignite programme and continued focus on our capital programme we believe we are well positioned to meet this challenge.
BUSINESS REVIEW
Total sales across the period were £2,208m reflecting a 1.3% decline on FY 2019, driven mainly by temporary covid-related sales reductions and closures in the first part of the year plus site disposals since FY 2019. Despite this, adjusted operating profita of £240m reflects a strong return to profitability. Excluding the c.£70m increase in utility costs, profits would have been close to pre Covid-19 levels, despite the impact during the year of the Omicron variant and inflationary cost pressures.
We made a good start to FY 2022 with positive like-for-like salesa growth over the first eight weeks. This encouraging performance continued until late November when concerns first arose around the emergence of the new Covid variant, Omicron, which led to calls for further caution in socialising and resulted in a clear downturn in activity across the sector. As a result, over the seven weeks to the end of the first quarter, like-for-like salesa declined with the adverse impact of Omicron being particularly felt over the important festive season.
As guest confidence returned early in the new year, our business regained momentum, supported by the benefits from a new set of Ignite initiatives, with strong like-for-like salesa growth in the second quarter. Over the first half of the year, food sales continued to outperform drink, with food like-for-like salesa growth of 6.9%, helped by the reduced rate of VAT. At this point, we started to observe an encouraging trend of recovery in city sites, as people began to return to offices and city centre destinations, albeit trading in some areas of London, such as The City, remained relatively subdued, particularly at the end of the week. Drink sales continued to be challenging across the sector and drink like-for-like salesa declined by 6.9% in the first half, with suburban locations seeing the largest declines.
VAT reverted from 12.5% to 20% on 1 April 2022 which contributed to a softening of sales in the third quarter, alongside industrial action and very hot weather, resulting in only modest like-for-like salesa growth across the full quarter, with food continuing to be the main driver. Trading improved in the fourth quarter, despite an additional period of extreme heat as well as further rail strikes. Sales over the August bank holiday were encouraging, with strong like-for-likea growth over the three-day weekend, before returning to levels consistent with the quarter as a whole. Growth continued to be driven by food sales with the strongest performances in our premium, food-led brands.
The unprecedented challenges the industry has faced have had an unavoidable impact on market supply with a 9.9% decline in pubs and restaurants since March 2020 (CGA Outlet Index October 22). Food-led venues have been hit harder by closures: the number of outlets reducing by 12.0%, with independent and tenanted businesses making up 82% of net closures. Given our strong estate and portfolio of brands, we believe that we are well placed to benefit from these changes in the competitive landscape.
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
The fundamental strengths of our business provide a platform for the future. We have an 83% freehold and long leasehold estate, with recognised and diversified brands across a broad range of consumer occasions, demographics and locations, and an experienced and proven management team with the focus to build on the momentum previously gained. We remain focused on the strategic pillars which formed the foundations of our strong performance before the pandemic, and which are equally relevant to the current challenging trading environment.
We continue to provide value for money to our guests, working hard to protect entry level items where we can and introducing more premium items to provide trade-up options. The benefit of our size and scale, our ability to continue to invest in our capital programme and the mitigation generated through Ignite allow us to use price tactically and to remain competitive.
Our Ignite programme of work remains at the core of our long-term value creation plans and we are working on over 40 fresh initiatives, alongside a large number already implemented in the business. We are currently focusing particularly on initiatives which enhance efficiency and productivity, helping to offset cost headwinds, through enhancements such as improved labour scheduling, cost mitigating procurement strategies and energy consumption reduction. The auto-scheduling project aims to assist our site managers by producing automatically generated team member rosters to help ensure we have the right people on shift at the right time, to drive sales at peak times and reduce costs at quieter times. We have a number of energy reduction projects underway including the installation of voltage optimisers that reduce electricity consumption, chemical additives that have been added to our heating systems to reduce gas consumption, trial of internet-connected control devices to lower electricity and gas consumption and we have trained energy ambassadors across the country to complete site energy audits, all further reducing consumption in our sites. In addition, we are working with our waste oil collection partner as we look to grow our oil recycling rate though increasing frequency of pickups and trialling a QR code driver validation system.
With increasing food costs, we are flexible in the way we procure, and we are constantly looking to limit exposure to the lines that are seeing the highest inflation at any one time. This may mean a higher level of product substitution than we would normally have, or the removal of some food items entirely, until markets settle down. We also look to use our scale purchasing power, where we can procure items across all brands, and hence secure volume advantage. We are confident in our ability to deliver long-term and sustained efficiencies and business improvements through the existing Ignite programme.
We remain committed to accelerating our digital strategy, an area which became increasingly important to guests during the pandemic. Our strategy focuses on building the correct organisational capabilities to allow for quick activation of new digital services as consumer behaviours change, allowing us to be at or near the forefront of digital advances in the sector. We have made significant progress in our digital services in recent years, for example our digital order at table facility, our streamlined online booking experience, and the development of our own channel delivery capability seeking to drive sales and protect margins.
Success in hospitality is inextricably linked to customer satisfaction, with the correlation between superior guest review scores and stronger like for like sales, irrefutable. When we re-opened our doors in FY 2021, we saw our guest review scores strengthen, from an average 4.0 out of 5.0 pre Covid, to 4.3 post Covid. Whilst there may have been a grace period in guest expectations post lockdown, as the year progressed we were delighted to see these guest scores maintained, with every brand over 4.0. This is a solid foundation to build upon, and strengthening these scores further remains a key focus.
From the start of the financial year our capital programme has been resumed, delivering value by improving the competitive position of our pubs and restaurants within their local markets. We are committed to re-establishing a seven-year investment cycle and, whilst short-term supply issues in terms of material procurement and contractor availability affected progress last year, this continues to be a key focus for the business. This year we have completed 170 investment projects including 160 remodels, six conversions, the acquisition of the freehold of three sites that were previously leasehold and opened one new Alex site in Germany. We are continuing to see strong performances from our investment projects. The conversion programme includes the trial of Browns in suburbia, stretching the brand beyond its usual high street location. The first trial site opened in August and is performing well and a second has just opened in December.
PEOPLE
Our fantastic team of over 46,000 people are central to the performance of our business, delivering the all-important experiences guests have with us. FY 2022 presented the industry with a challenging recruitment environment with wide-spread staffing issues across the country, largely as a result of losing people during furlough to other sectors and the absence of the EU talent pool. Therefore, our focus on attracting, training and retaining great people was more important to our organisation than ever and we were pleased that employee numbers recovered to pre-pandemic levels during the second half of the year. Staff turnover has stabilised through the year which is an important factor as lower turnover has a positive impact on guest experience. We are also delighted that our team engagement scores have continued to improve over the course of the year and are now at near record highs.
In order to retain our teams, we are committed to providing progression opportunities and development facilitated through training and a strong centralised HR function. We are proud of the work we have done on our apprentice scheme which we believe will provide excellent future talent to our organisation, from front and back of house roles in our pubs and restaurants to corporate roles in our head office. This year over 1,000 apprentices have joined our business and a similar number of our current employees have enrolled onto one of the apprenticeship opportunities open to them. In the year ahead, we will continue to expand our apprenticeship opportunities from Level 2 through to Level 7 and have a passion to keep growing our own apprenticeship talent, aspiring to recruit a further 1,000 new apprentices in addition to accelerating the careers of 1,000 current employees. Given the importance of developing and retaining chefs, M&B continue to grow our culinary capability via our Chefs’ Academy. 175 of our chefs have embarked on the Commis Chef apprenticeship delivered by our award-winning tutors.
SUSTAINABILITY
We are committed to reducing the environmental impact of our business and the Board has agreed
even more challenging targets to drive momentum in this area. We have committed to:
– Net Zero emissions by 2040, including scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions; we will submit our roadmap to net zero for Science Based Target Initiative approval next calendar year. We are founding members of the Zero Carbon Forum and are committed to playing our part in decarbonising the hospitality industry as a whole.
– Zero operational waste to landfill by 2030; we have made great progress in this area in recent years and currently divert 96% of operational waste away from landfill. We have underpinned this ambition with a recycling rate target of 80% over the same period.
– 50% reduction in food waste by 2030; aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals we will halve food waste in our supply chain and in sites by 2030. As at the year end, we have achieved 29% reduction in food waste since our 2019 baseline, driven by operational improvements and aided by partnerships with Fareshare and Too Good to Go.
We have a number of initiatives underway to support these ambitions. Food emissions are the largest contributor to our carbon footprint and during the year we conducted two successful menu trials which significantly reduced emissions. We will take the learnings from these trials forward to expand the programme, which involved working closely with suppliers. We are also developing a transition plan to remove gas from our businesses through the electrification of our kitchens, finding alternative heating solutions to gas boilers and the trial of onsite renewable energy generation.
Our sustainability strategy has a strong focus on the positive impact we have on people and communities. For example, we are committed to enhancing the wellbeing of our own people, and we have an established nutritional strategy aiming to provide balanced choices and information to guests. We have also developed charitable partnerships with Shelter and Social Bite through which we are helping to tackle the growing issue of homelessness in the UK.
FINANCIAL REVIEW
On a statutory basis, profit before tax for the year was £8m (FY 2021 loss £42m), on sales of £2,208m (FY 2021 £1,065m).
The Group Income Statement discloses adjusted profit and earnings per share information that excludes separately disclosed items to allow an understanding of the trading performance of the Group. Separately disclosed items are those which are separately identified by virtue of their size or incidence.
| Statutory | Adjusted a | |||
| FY 2022 | FY 2021 | FY 2022 | FY 2021 | |
| £m | £m | £m | £m | |
| Revenue | 2,208 | 1,065 | 2,208 | 1,065 |
| Operating profit | 124 | 81 | 240 | 29 |
| Profit / (loss) before tax | 8 | (42) | 124 | (94) |
| Earnings / (loss) per share | 2.2p | (11.5)p | 18.0p | (13.6)p |
| Operating margin | 5.6% | 7.6% | 10.9% | 2.7% |
At the end of the period, the total estate comprised 1,718 sites in the UK and Germany of which 1,636 are directly managed.
Revenue
Total revenue of £2,208m (FY 2021 £1,065m) reflects a period of continuous trading, albeit disrupted by the Omicron variant in the first quarter, as compared to the prior year which included substantial closures and restrictions relating to Covid-19. Sales f igures in the first half of the year include the benefit of the temporary reduction in the rate of VAT on food and non-alcoholic drink sales to 12.5%.
Unless otherwise noted, sales comparisons below are on a three-year basis, to the same period in FY 2019, being the last full pre Covid-19 financial year.
Like-for-like sales a for the year increased by 1.1%, comprising an increase in like-for-like food sales a of 5.2% and a decrease in like-for-like drink sales a of (4.1)%.
Like-for-like sales a growth/(decline) against FY 2019:
| Wks 1-15Q1 | Wks 16-28Q2 | Wks 29-42Q3 | Wks 43-52Q4 | Wks 1-52 | |
| Food | 5.2% | 8.9% | 2.9% | 4.1% | 5.2% |
| Drink | (9.1)% | (4.2)% | (1.3)% | (1.0)% | (4.1)% |
| Total Total excl. VAT benefit | (1.5)% (5.5)% | 3.8% 0.2% | 0.9% 0.9% | 1.5% 1.5% | 1.1% (0.9)% |
Sales growth in food was driven by premiumisation and other increases in spend per head, with the strongest performances in our premium, food-led brands. Volumes for both food and drink were in double-digit decline against FY 2019.
For the ten weeks since the period end like-for-like salesa against FY 2019 have increased by 9.2%.
Moving forward it will become more meaningful to use FY 2022 as a primary comparator for like-for-like sales. On this basis, for the ten weeks since the period end, like-for-like sales a have increased by 6.5%, comprising an increase in like-for-like food sales a of 1.9% and like-for-like drink sales a growth of 12.1%, with both in volume growth. Total sales in this period grew by 7.3%.
Separately disclosed items
Separately disclosed items are identified due to their nature or materiality to help the reader form a view of overall and adjusted trading.
A £117m reduction in value is recognised relating to valuation and impairment of properties, comprising a £86m impairment arising from the revaluation of freehold and long leasehold sites, a £9m impairment of short leasehold and unlicensed properties and a £22m impairment of right-of-use assets. The £22m tax credit relates to these impairments.
There was a £1m net profit arising on property disposals in the period.
Operating profit and margins a
Adjusted operating profit a for the year was £240m (FY 2021 £29m), a substantial increase on FY 2021 which was significantly impacted by Covid-19 closures and restrictions.
Adjusted operating margin of 10.9% was 8.2ppts higher than last year, again due mainly to significant periods of closure and other trading restrictions. Statutory operating margin of 5.6% was 2.0ppts lower than last year due to the impact of separately disclosed property impairments.
Inflationary cost pressures presented an increasing challenge both to our business and to the hospitality sector as a whole, especially through the second half of the year. Inflationary costs were initially concentrated in the areas of energy, wages and food costs but progressively became evident throughout most of the supply chain. Inflationary cost headwinds against FY 2019 totalled c.£220m during FY 2022, over the three year period, with energy cost increases contributing c.£70m, after consumption savings.
We continue to work very hard to mitigate as much of the impact of these cost increases as we can, both through driving sales growth and through identifying and implementing further cost efficiencies, all executed under our Ignite programme of work. Looking forward, we anticipate an aggregate cost headwind in the region of 10-12% on our cost base of c.£1.8 billion this year before mitigation, with operating margins remaining lower than pre-Covid levels in the medium term.
Government Support
Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 global pandemic in early 2020 and the subsequent enforced closure of the business, M&B received a number of different areas of support from both local and central Government in the UK and in Germany. During the year, Government support was received in the form of Local Authority Grants £3m (FY 2021 £11m), business rates relief £5m (FY 2021 £75m), grants for loss of profits in Germany £1m (FY 2021 £14m) and apprenticeship incentives £1m (FY 2021 £nil).
In the prior period, £210m of support was received in relation to the UK Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) and a further £9m of Government assistance for wages and salaries in Germany (Kurzarbeit).
The Group also benefitted from a reduction in the rate of VAT from 20% to 5% on non-alcoholic sales which was introduced by the UK Government on 15 July 2020 and continued until 30 September 2021. Following this a rate of 12.5% applied for the subsequent six months until 31 March 2022. The estimated impact of this on food and drink revenue in FY 2022 is £43m (FY 2021 £81m).
Interest
Net finance costs of £114m for the year were £6m lower than the same period last year, with annual amortisation reducing the value of securitised debt.
The net pensions finance charge was £2m (FY 2021 £3m). The net pensions charge for next year is expected to remain at the same level.
Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share, after the separately disclosed items described above, were 2.2p (FY 2021 loss (11.5)p), adjusted earnings per share a were 18.0p (FY 2021 loss (13.6)p).
The basic weighted average number of shares in the period was 595m and the total number of shares issued at the balance sheet date was 597m.
Cash flow
| FY 2022 | FY 2021 | |
| £m | £m | |
| EBITDA before movements in the valuation of the property portfolio | 374 | 182 |
| Non-cash share-based payment and pension costs and other | 6 | 13 |
| Operating cash flow before movements in working capital and additional pension contributions | 380 | 195 |
| Working capital movement | 19 | 7 |
| Pension deficit contributions | (44) | (52) |
| Cash flow from operations | 355 | 150 |
| Capital expenditure | (122) | (33) |
| Net finance lease principal payments | (45) | (41) |
| Interest on lease liabilities | (16) | (21) |
| Net interest paid | (99) | (104) |
| Tax | (2) | 1 |
| Issue and purchase of shares | (1) | 341 |
| Other | 1 | – |
| Repayment under liquidity facility | – | (9) |
| Repayment of term loan | – | (100) |
| Repayment of revolving credit facilities | – | (10) |
| Net cash flow before bond amortisation | 71 | 174 |
| Mandatory bond amortisation | (110) | (104) |
| Net cash flow | (39) | 70 |
The business generated £374m of EBITDA before movements in the valuation of the property portfolio. This is notably higher than last year due to FY 2021 being significantly impacted by Covid-19 closures and restrictions.
Capital expenditure has increased in FY 2022 as the capital programme resumed following reduced activity in the prior period due to the cash management strategy adopted in response to Covid-19 restrictions.
In FY 2021, share issue proceeds reflect the equity raise of £351m less £9m transaction fees and £1m purchase of own shares.
Before mandatory bond amortisation, cash inflow was £71m (FY 2021 £174m). After mandatory bond amortisation, cash outflow was £39m (FY 2021 inflow of £70m).
Capital expenditure
Capital expenditure of £122m (FY 2021 £33m) comprises £117m from the purchase of property, plant and equipment and £5m in relation to the purchase of intangible assets.
Capital expenditure remains a priority for the business but was below targeted levels due primarily to global supply chain disruption and delays in obtaining planning consent, resulting in reduced project completions. We expect capital expenditure for FY 2023 to increase further to approximately £200m.
| FY 2022 | FY 2021 | |||
| £m | # | £m | # | |
| Maintenance and infrastructure | 39 | 14 | ||
| Remodels – refurbishment | 60 | 155 | 9 | 21 |
| Remodels – expansionary | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 |
| Conversions | 6 | 6 | 2 | 5 |
| Acquisitions – freehold | 14 | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| Acquisitions – leasehold | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total return generating capital expenditure | 83 | 170 | 19 | 30 |
| Total capital expenditure | 122 | 33 |
The three freehold acquisitions represent the purchase of three properties previously held as leasehold.
Property
In line with our property valuation policy a red book valuation of the freehold and long leasehold estate has been completed in conjunction with the independent property valuer, CBRE. In addition, the Group has undertaken an impairment review on short leasehold and unlicensed properties. The overall property portfolio valuation of c. £4bn has decreased by £282m (FY 2021 increase of £196m). This reflects £95m impairment separately disclosed in the income statement and a £187m decrease in the revaluation reserve. In addition to this, there was a £22m impairment of right-of-use assets, separately disclosed in the income statement.
Pensions
During the period, the trustees of the M&B Executive Pension Plan (MABEPP), working closely with the Company, have successfully completed a full scheme buy-in with Legal and General Assurance Society Limited. This transaction eliminates substantially all remaining risk in this scheme within the level of existing committed contributions. The MABEPP makes up approximately 20% of the Company’s total pension obligations, with the vast majority of the balance being in the M&B Pension Plan (MABPP).
The latest triennial pension valuations of both schemes are assessed as at 31 March 2022 (2019 £293m combined deficit). MABEPP having already achieved buy-in, requires only limited future funding to cover its running costs and any data true ups. Preliminary results for MABPP show a significant improvement in the actuarial funding position. Once the valuations are agreed, the future contributions to be made by the company until 2023 should remain unchanged, but with all monies now being made into blocked escrow accounts.
Net debta and facilities
Following the adoption of IFRS 16 in FY 2020, leases are now included in net debta. Net debta at the period end was £1,679m, comprised of £1,198m non-lease liabilities and lease liabilities of £481m (FY 2021 £1,783m comprised of £1,270m non-lease liabilities and lease liabilities of £513m).
In addition to the securitisation, the Group has a £150 million unsecured facility expiring in February 2024. Further details of existing debt arrangements and an analysis of net debta can be found in Note 9 to the financial statements and at https://www.mbplc.com/infocentre/debtinformation/ .
Going Concern
After considering forecasts, sensitivities and mitigating actions available to management and having regard to risks and uncertainties, the Directors have a reasonable expectation that the Group has adequate resources to continue to operate within its borrowing facilities and covenants for a period of at least 12 months from the date of signing the financial statements. However, given the prevailing high level of unpredictability and uncertainty concerning both sales and, particularly, cost inflation, the Directors have concluded that a material uncertainty exists which may cast significant doubt over the Group’s ability to trade as a going concern, in which case it may be unable to realise its assets and discharge its liabilities in the normal course of business.
Accordingly, the financial statements continue to be prepared on the going concern basis but with material uncertainty arising from the impact of macro-economic factors on the group’s compliance with financial covenants and its liquidity. Full details are included in Note 1.
Director’s responsibility statement
The 2022 Annual Report and Accounts which will be issued in December 2022, contains a responsibility statement in compliance with DTR 4.1.12 of the Listing Rules which sets out that as at the date of approval of the Annual Report on 6 December 2022, the Directors confirm to the best of their knowledge:
– the Group and unconsolidated Company financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Group and Company, and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
– the performance review contained in the Annual Report and Accounts includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Group and the undertakings including the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties they face.
This responsibility statement was approved by the Board of Directors on 6 December 2022 and is signed on its behalf by:
Tim Jones
Chief Financial Officer
6 December 2022