Superdry to cut rents across 39 UK stores

Struggling retailer Superdry has launched a restructuring plan that will see it cut rents across its 39 UK stores. The plan is the outcome of a previously announced exploration of “material cost saving options” as part of a broader turnaround plan. Superdry this morning said that to support those proposals C-Retail, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company which owns the leasehold portfolio of the Superdry group, was launching a restructuring plan which would principally involve a restructuring of its UK property estate and retail cost base. Superdry also announced a circa £10m equity raise, underwritten by chief executive Julian Dunkerton, that will provide necessary liquidity headroom, and a delisting from the London Stock Exchange. As well as amending the terms on its leasehold properties, Superdry said the restructure would involve a “compromise” of its business rates liabilities owed to local authorities and effect amendments to its debt facility agreements with its principal secured lenders, Bantry Bay and Hilco. On 28 March, the group’s debt facility agreement with Hilco was amended to provide for two incremental facilities for £20m, including a seasonal facility of up to £10m. The seasonal facility is conditional on Hilco being satisfied that sufficient progress has been made through the restructure. The restructure is confined to the retailer’s UK stores and is not expected to impact suppliers, employees or landlords of sites outside the UK. Superdry said that if the restructure did not go ahead it would be forced to enter administration. “This outcome would leave creditors, including the creditors whose claims would otherwise be compromised by the restructuring plan, materially worse off,” said the group. Superdry chair Peter Sjӧlander said: “The board has spent a lot of time engaging with Julian Dunkerton to come up with a plan which gives the business the best possible prospects for the long term while protecting the interests of shareholders and other stakeholders to the greatest extent possible. The business has faced extraordinary external challenges and, while good progress has been made on our cost saving initiatives, more needs to be done to get the business on a stable financial footing for the future. “While we recognise the compromises we are asking from some of our stakeholder groups, we would urge them to support the proposals, which we believe are the best way of ensuring Superdry’s recovery over the long-term.” Dunkerton added: “Today’s announcement marks a critical moment in Superdry’s history. At its heart, these proposals are putting the business on the right footing to secure its long-term future following a period of unprecedented challenges.”