("WMC" or "the Company")
Financial Statements for the year ended 31st December 2014
Chairman's Statement
As was indicated in our cautionary Trading Statement last month 2014 has been
in reality a tale of two markets - Old Spitalfields and Cornish Market World.
Dealing firstly with Old Spitalfields (OSM), here we were operating under a
five- year agreement which ended in January of this year. Our team made a
considerable success of it, in particular developing a range of additional
activities and events, but unfortunately the market changed hands and its new
American owners decided to manage "in house". I referred to this in my
statement accompanying the Interim Results. This change inevitably resulted in
some insecurity amongst traders etc., resulting in revenue fall-off towards the
end of our tenure. OSM was generating significant profitability for us which
will not be easy to replace. Cornish Market World (CMW) regrettably continued
its downward drift despite all best efforts, although our associated
"Kidzworld" attraction demonstrated further growth. We are now working closely
with our landlord to reconfigure the market and there are some early promising
signs of an improvement. Parallel to this we have been successful in obtaining
planning permission for expanded retailing on site with considerable interest
being shown by a number of new prospective tenants; further planning
applications at CMW are also underway. Elsewhere our other core markets
performed reasonably in a difficult trading environment.
As shareholders will know, we now operate under our new name WMC Retail
Partners Plc. This reflects the changing nature of our activities in that we
are now increasingly involved in managing markets for others on some form of
partnership basis; markets at Shepherds Bush and Watford are now operating
under our management, Derby City Council has appointed us for a consultancy
project and there are a number of other contracts at an advanced state of
negotiation. All this augurs well for the future.
Turning to other matters, a combination of modest profit, lower than we would
have hoped for but reflecting the above, together with very tight control of
working capital and costs and the sale of the Wellington Market Annexe, has
enabled us to further reduce bank debt. I am pleased to say that we have
operated within our banking covenants and that relations with our bank remain
cordial. Our significant Property Investment Portfolio has been virtually
fully let throughout the year providing very useful income and also acting as
part security for our borrowings.
Finally I would like to pay tribute to our small executive team and indeed to
all our employees who have worked very hard during a difficult year of
considerable change.
Lord Lee of Trafford DL FCA
Chairman
23 April 2015
Consolidated Profit and Loss Account
at 31 December 2014
2014 2013
£'000 £'000
Turnover - continuing operations 6,080 6,200
Cost of sales (4,989) (5,077)
------ ------
Gross profit 1,091 1,123
Administrative expenses
- other administrative expenses (730) (730)
- other income - 34
------- -------
(730) (696)
Operating Profit 361 427
Loss on sale of business and fixed assets (2) (24)
Interest receivable 2 97
Interest payable (182) (224)
------- -------
Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 179 276
Tax on profit on ordinary activities (50) (14)
------- --------
Profit on ordinary activities after taxation 129 262
Minority interests 8 (14)
------- ------
Profit for the financial year 137 248
======== ========
Profit per ordinary share 2.15p 4.37p
======== ========
Diluted earnings profit per ordinary share 2.15p 4.37p
======== ========
All of the activities of the Group are classified as continuing.
Consolidated Balance Sheet
at 31 December 2014
2014 2013
£'000 £'000
Fixed assets
Intangible assets
- positive goodwill and other intangible assets 179 126
- negative goodwill - (55)
Tangible assets 7,904 8,274
-------- --------
8,083 8,345
-------- --------
Current assets
Stocks 11 9
Debtors: amounts falling due within one year 691 920
Debtors: amounts falling due after more than one year 19 31
Cash at bank and in hand 51 20
-------- --------
772 980
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (1,331) (1,801)
-------- --------
Net current liabilities (559) (821)
-------- --------
Total assets less current liabilities 7,524 7,524
Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year (3,562) (3,893)
Provisions for liabilities (186) (180)
------- -------
Net assets 3,776 3,451
========= =========
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 3,000 3,000
Share premium account 250 250
Revaluation reserve 1,072 882
Share based payment reserve 79 73
Profit and loss account (662) (799)
------- -------
Equity shareholders' funds 3,739 3,406
Equity minority interest 37 45
------- -------
Total shareholders' funds 3,776 3,451
========= =========
NOTES
1. The calculation of earnings per share for the 12 months to 31 December 2014
is based on the weighted average number of shares throughout the period of
5,999,449 (2013:5,999,449).
2. A preference share dividend of 1.5875 pence per share was paid on each of
30 June 2014 and 31t December 2014.
3. In common with many companies, the current economic conditions create
uncertainty with regards to trading, cashflows and the availability of
finance.
The Group is funded by an overdraft facility and bank loans, which have been
substantially reduced over the past couple of years, primarily through property
sales. The £150k overdraft facility was recently renewed on 26 March 2015,
until 31 March 2016.
The Group has prepared forecasts to 31 March 2016 which shows that the Group
will be able to operate within its bank facilities.
Accordingly, after making enquiries, including the preparation of forecasts and
discussions with the Group's bankers regarding the renewal of the overdraft and
extension of the loan facilities, the directors have formed a judgement that,
at the time of approving the financial statements, there is a reasonable
expectation that the Company and the Group have adequate resources to continue
in operational existence for a period of 12 months following the date the
financial statements are approved. For this reason, the directors continue to
prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis.
4. The financial information set out above does not constitute the Group's nor
Company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2013 and 31
December 2014 but is derived from them. The auditors have reported on the
statutory accounts for both financial years. Their reports were unqualified
and did not contain a statement under section 498(1) to (4) of the
Companies Act 2006.
5. The annual report to shareholders will be sent to all shareholders during
the week commencing 4th May 2015 and will also be available then on the
Company's website www.WMC-retail.com
The directors of the issuer (WMC Retail Partners plc) accept responsibility for
this announcement.© 2015 PR Newswire
