Walkabout operator Intertain's £29m loss
Walkabout operator Intertain has reduced its debts from £65m to £35m after agreeing a £29.9m debt-for-equity swap with its banking group. The company has also reported a loss of £28.72m in its first 67 weeks of trading, since its emergence from the pre-pack administration of Regent Inns in October 2009.
The debt-for-equity swap, agreed on 28 July, pushed the combined equity stake of the group's banks from 85% to 88%, with the rest of the shareholding held by management. WestLB has sold its interests in the company, which has reduced the number of banks from four to three, with Barclays, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland all retaining holdings.
Intertain's on-going debt is in the form of a £35m long-term loan re-payable at £250k per quarter from August 2012. The deal has left Intertain with a working capital facility of £5m, with the £1.15m raised from the sale of Old Orleans Birmingham in April 2011 used as part repayment.
In its accounts for the 67 weeks to 29 January 2011, Intertain reported that exceptionals for the period included asset impairment costs of £16.6m and a £3.8m loss on disposal of fixed assets due to lease surrender.
There were also exceptional costs of £5.94m, which included settlements with suppliers (£1.44m) and "significant" payments to landlords to secure lease assignments (£2.77m), plus a £587k onerous lease provision.
Operating profit before exceptional items was £3.18m, with ebitda at £11.22m against turnover of £115.2m. Group operating loss was £23.78m.
Intertain start-up costs were put at £6m.
The company pointed to significant costs establishing Highlight as a replacement for Jongleurs — rights to the Jongleurs name reverted to its founder after Regent's pre-pack.
Intertain said Walkabout is now in growth "after a long period of slow decline", following the decision to fit all 32 Walkabouts with HD projectors and new screens at a cost of £392,000.
Directors' payments to-talled £1.03m, with the highest paid director receiving £275k, excluding pension rights.
