McColl’s Retail Group plc has released its trading update for the 52 weeks period ended 24 November 2019.
It revealed that total revenue was down by 1.9% for the full year, which reflects store divestments as the retailer pushes forward with its store optimisation programme.
Total like-for-like sales were down by 1.4%, which is the same as the year before.
Adjusted EBITDA for the fiscal year is expected to be £32m, which will fall marginally below expectations. The retailer has put this down to “softer market conditions due to unseasonable weather and lower consumer confidence”.
The period saw the retailer trialling a number of propositional enhancements including a scalable food-to-go format, delivery with Uber Eats and improved customer segmentation of the estate.
Jonathan Miller, Chief Executive of the group, said “While 2019 has been another challenging year for the business, we have made good progress against our goals of operational stability and good retail execution. We are also pleased to confirm that we have continued to reduce net debt, with further progress anticipated due to our ongoing capital discipline.
“The fundamentals of the convenience channel are strong and we remain a resilient, profitable and cash generative business. We are confident in our plans to rebuild momentum in 2020, and look forward to providing a fuller strategy update at our Preliminary Results in February.”
