Escape Hunt PLC Publication of audited results (3942U)
July 29 2020 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMESC
RNS Number : 3942U
Escape Hunt PLC
29 July 2020
29 July 2020
Escape Hunt plc (AIM: ESC)
("Escape Hunt", the "Company" or the "Group")
Publication of audited results
Escape Hunt, a leading operator of escape rooms in the
fast-growing experiential leisure sector, announces that further to
the announcement of its unaudited preliminary results on 12 May
2020, the Company's 2019 annual report has now been finalised and
can be downloaded from www.escapehunt.com/investors. Copies of the
annual report will be sent to shareholders in due course together
with the notice of the Annual General Meeting which is scheduled to
take place on 24 September 2020.
Fundraising since the year end
Since the year end, the Company has raised, in aggregate,
GBP4.316m (before expenses) (the "Fundraising") comprising:
o GBP3,494,999.85 by means of the Placing of 46,599,998 Ordinary
Shares at 7.5 pence per Ordinary Share;
o GBP165,000.15 by means of a Subscription of 2,000,002 Subscription
Shares by certain Directors and 200,000 Subscription Shares
by others at 7.5 pence per Ordinary Share;
o GBP340,000 through the issue of Convertible Loan Notes;
and
o On 15 June 2020, the Company posted a circular to shareholders
proposing resolutions to approve the Fundraising and proposing
an Open Offer inviting shareholders to subscribe for up
to a further GBP500,000 in ordinary shares at 7.5 pence
per share. On 1 July 2020, the Company announced that it
had received valid acceptances from shareholders in respect
of 4,217,013 Open Offer Shares, bringing the total amount
raised through the Fundraising to GBP4.316 million (before
expenses).
Going concern
The Group's financial statements have been prepared on a going
concern basis which contemplates the continuity of normal business
activities and the realisation of assets and the settlement of
liabilities in the ordinary course of business.
The Directors have assessed the Group's ability to continue in
operational existence for the foreseeable future in accordance with
the Financial Reporting Council's Guidance on the going concern
basis of accounting and reporting on solvency and liquidity risks
issued in April 2016.
The uncertain impact of COVID-19 introduces more risks and
uncertainty into this assessment. To this end, the Board has
prepared detailed cashflow forecasts covering a four-year period
from the reporting date. These forecasts take into account the
impact of COVID-19 on the business during the period between 20
March 2020 and 11 July 2020 when all the Group's UK owner-operated
sites were closed. At the same time, many of the Group's franchisee
operators were closed and not able to pay regular service fees. For
a number of them, the Group agreed to grant payment holidays. In
addition, various payments were deferred during the lockdown
period, including employment tax and national insurance payments
and, in the case of certain sites, rent payments. Work at two new
UK owner-operated sites which had commenced prior to the lockdown
was stopped in late March but has now restarted, leading to resumed
capital expenditure. In addition, there has been a need for modest
additional expenditure to ensure that existing sites have been able
to re-open in accordance with the UK Government's guidelines. These
factors have all been taken into account in the forecasts referred
to above.
On 1 July 2020, the Group completed the Fundraising as outlined
above. Taking into account the receipt of this new funding, the
Company has considered a number of potential scenarios for a
recovery of trading now that sites have been permitted to reopen.
The Group also plans to resume the roll out of new UK
owner-operated sites which are expected to contribute to future
performance.
The central case is based on the re-opening of UK and franchise
sites in mid-July 2020 with volumes initially being substantially
below the levels which were achieved prior to entering lockdown.
The model assumes that it takes six months for trading to normalise
following re-opening and assumes the continued roll out of new UK
owner-operated sites in accordance with the strategy. In this
scenario, the Group believes it has sufficient resources for its
present needs.
The Group has also considered a 'downside' scenario. In this
scenario, the Group has assessed the potential impact of a second
wave of COVID-19 with the re-opening of UK and franchise sites
being delayed until October 2020. The pace of recovery is assumed
to be much slower than in the central case scenario outlined above,
with trading taking 12 months to resume pre-lockdown levels. The
scenario also models a delay in progress in the US. In this
scenario, the Group believes it can take mitigating actions to
preserve cash. Taking into account the mitigating actions, the
Group believes it would have sufficient resources for its present
needs.
Current Trading
On 11 July 2020, the Company reopened eight of its venues in
England with its Edinburgh site opened on 16 July 2020. The sites
are currently open only on Thursday to Sunday while momentum
builds, and whilst it is too early to draw any conclusions on the
time it will take to return to pre-COVID levels of occupancy, the
Board is encouraged by the current level of demand, which is
growing each week. A further update on current trading will be
provided at the time of the release of the Company's unaudited
interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2020 which are
expected to be released in late September 2020.
Enquiries:
Escape Hunt plc
www.escapehunt.com
Richard Harpham (Chief Executive
Officer)
Graham Bird (Chief Financial
Officer)
Kam Bansil (Investor Relations) +44 (0) 20 7846 3322
Shore Capital, NOMAD and Joint
Broker
www.shorecap.co.uk
Tom Griffiths
David Coaten +44 (0) 20 7408 4050
Zeus Capital Limited, Joint
Broker
www.zeuscapital.co.uk
John Goold
Daniel Harris +44 (0) 20 3829 5000
IFC Advisory - Financial PR
www.investor-focus.co.uk
Graham Herring
Tim Metcalfe
Florence Chandler +44 (0) 20 3934 6630
The person responsible for arranging the release of this
information is Richard Harpham, CEO of the Company.
Notes to Editors
About Escape Hunt plc
The Escape Hunt Group is a global leader in providing live
escape-the-room experiences with a network of owner-operated sites
in the UK and a global network of franchised outlets in six
continents. The Company was re-admitted to AIM in May 2017 and has
a strategy of creating high quality premium games and experiences,
which incorporates branded IP content.
(https://escapehunt.com/)
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
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of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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