Preliminary results FY23

1Separately disclosed items as disclosed in note 4.

2 Restated, see note 8.

Commenting on the results, Tim Martin, the Chairman of J D Wetherspoon plc, said:

"Wetherspoon continues to perform well. In the first nine weeks of the current financial year, to 1 October 2023, like-for-like sales increased by 9.9%, compared with the nine weeks to 2 October 2022.

"As we said last year, perhaps the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the possibility of further lockdowns and restrictions.

"Those interested in the UK Government's response to the pandemic may like to read the reports by Professor Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, in The Guardian, and by Professor Robert Dingwall, of Trent University, in the Telegraph

"See pages 54-56 of Wetherspoon News

"Indeed, as some commentators have noted, lockdowns were not contemplated in the UK's laboriously compiled prepandemic plans. It appears that these plans were jettisoned, early on in the pandemic, in favour of copying China's lockdown approach - an example, perhaps, of Warren Buffett's so-called "institutional imperative" - "everyone else has locked down, so we will, too".

"The company currently anticipates a reasonable outcome for the financial year, subject to our future sales performance.

• Visit our website jdwetherspoon.com
• The annual report and financial statements 2023 has been published on the Company's website on 06 October 2023.
• The current financial year comprises 52 trading weeks to 28 July 2024.
• The next trading update will be issued on 8 November 2023.

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

Financial performance

The company was founded in 1979 - and this is the 40th year since incorporation in 1983.

The table below outlines some key aspects of our performance during that period.

Summary accounts for the years 1984-2023

Notes

Adjustments to statutory numbers

• EPS and free cash flow per share are calculated using dilutive shares in issue.
• Free cash flow is defined in the APM section within accounting policies in the annual report. The free cash flow calculation can be found on the cash flow statement.

Comparison to Pre-Pandemic Period (FY19)

The sales recovery, following the pandemic, continued in FY23.

Like-for-like sales for the financial year increased by 7.4% (FY22: -4.7%), compared to FY19. Bar sales increased by 2.1%, food sales by 13.7%, slot/fruit machine sales by 43.0% and hotel sales by 15.4%.

Like-for-like sales, compared to FY19, have continued to improve in the first 9 weeks of the current financial year (FY24) and are 17.3% ahead of the equivalent 9-week period.

The comparisons in the remainder of this statement are with the previous financial year, which ended on 31 July 2022.

Cash flow

Free cash flow, including pre-tax proceeds of approximately £169 million from the sale of the majority of the company's interest rate swaps, was £271.1 million (2022: £21.9 million).

Excluding the proceeds from the swaps, free cash flow was approximately £102 million.

Free cash flow was calculated after capital payments of £47.0 million for existing pubs (2022: £45.9 million), £12.3 million for share purchases for employees (2022: £12.8 million) and payments of tax and interest.

Balance sheet

Wetherspoon's balance sheet is significantly stronger than it was in the period before the pandemic.

Debt levels, excluding IFRS-16 lease debt, have decreased by £163 million since January 2020, just before the first lockdown, to £641.9 million.

This reduction has been achieved after investments in freehold reversions (pubs where Wetherspoon was previously the tenant) of £81.7 million and £108.5 million in new pubs.

During the pandemic, the company raised a total of £229 million of new equity.

On an IFRS-16 basis, which includes notional debt from leases, debt decreased from £1.45 billion to £1.06 billion between January 2020 and the end of FY23.

Trading summary

Total sales for FY23 were £1,925 million, an increase of 10.6%, compared to the 53 weeks ended 31 July 2022.

Like-for-like sales, compared to FY22, increased by 12.7%. Like-for-like bar sales increased by 9.0%, food sales by 17.7%, slot/fruit machine sales by 26.4% and hotel rooms by 11.8%.

The operating profit, before separately disclosed items, was £107.1 million (2022: £25.7 million). The operating margin, before separately disclosed items, was 5.6% (2022: 1.5%).

The profit before tax and separately disclosed items was £42.6 million (2022: £30.4 million loss), including property gains of £2.2 million (2022: £2.1 million).

In the year, the company sold 13 pubs, terminated the leases of 14 pubs, and closed 4 pubs. This gave rise to a cash inflow of £7.0 million after associated fees. There was a loss on disposal of £9.4 million, recognised in the income statement, relating to these pubs.

Earnings per share before separately disclosed items, were 27.0p (2022: losses per share of 19.6p).

Total capital investment was £78.5 million (2022: £122.7 million). £20.4 million was invested in new pubs and pub extensions (2022: £51.1 million), £47.0 million in existing pubs and IT (2022: £45.9 million) and £11.2 million in freehold reversions of properties where Wetherspoon was the tenant (2022: £25.8 million).

Separately disclosed items

Overall, there was a pre-tax 'separately disclosed gain' of £48.0 million (2022: £56.7 million).

There was a £97.7 million gain related to the fair value movement of interest rate swaps; a £9.4 million charge relating to the disposal of pubs; and a £38.3 million property impairment charge, in respect of pubs which were deemed unlikely to generate sufficient cash flows, in the future, to support their carrying value.

Although there have been a number of impairments over the years in respect of individual properties, the book value of the company's assets is £1.38 billion, which is approximately eight times the company's EBITDA of £170 million. There are many pubs in the estate where expected future cash flows would result in a valuation which is considerably in excess of book value. However, accounting rules do not take account of these potential valuations.

This historical cost accounting approach can also create anomalies in pub valuations.

For example, one pub in South London has made an estimated return on equity, since opening over 20 years ago, after all costs including interest and tax, of £4.4 million; yet its valuation has been impaired due to low profitability in the aftermath of the pandemic.

Dividends and return of capital

The board has not recommended the payment of a final dividend (2022: £0). There have been no share buybacks in the financial year to date (2022: £0).

Financing

As at 30 July 2023, the company's total net debt, excluding derivatives and lease liabilities, was £641.9 million (2022: £891.7 million), a decrease of £249.8 million.

In November 2022, the company repaid government "CLBILS" loans of £100 million, which had been due to mature in August 2023. The company has total available finance facilities of £983 million.

The company has interest rate swaps in place in respect of £200 million, from August 2023 to February 2025. The swap rate currently being paid, excluding the banks' margin, is 5.67%. The total cost of the company's debt, in the year under review, including the banks' margin was 6.25%.

Property

The company opened three pubs during the year and sold, closed or terminated the leases of 31 pubs. The company had a trading estate of 826 pubs at the financial year end.

In the last 12 years, the company has increased the ratio of freehold pubs it owns from 43% to 70%, as a result of investment in freehold reversions and opening freehold pubs.

As indicated above, at 30 July 2023, the net book value of the property, plant and equipment of the company was £1.38 billion.

The properties have not been revalued since 1999.

Taxation

The total tax charge is £8.7 million in respect of profits before separately disclosed items (2022: £5.6 million credit).

The total tax charge comprises two parts. The first part is the actual current tax (the 'cash' tax) which this year is nil (2022: nil) because of losses carried forward from prior years.

The second part is deferred tax (the 'accounting' tax), which is tax payable in future periods, that must be recognised in the current period for accounting purposes. The accounting tax charge in the year is £8.7 million (2022: £5.6 million credit).

The company is seeking a refund of historic excise duty from HMRC, totalling £524k , in relation to goods sent to the Republic of Ireland, when Wetherspoon pubs first opened in that country. The company has been charged excise duty on the same goods twice, as they were purchased in the UK, and excise duty was paid in full. Irish excise duty was then paid in addition.

Business rates transmogrified to a sales tax

Omni Centre, Edinburgh

VAT equality

Supermarkets pay virtually no VAT in respect of food sales, whereas pubs pay 20%. This has enabled supermarkets to subsidise the price of alcoholic drinks, widening the price gap, to the detriment of pubs and restaurants. Pubs also pay around 20 pence a pint in business rates, whereas supermarkets pay only about 2 pence, creating further inequality.

.

How pubs contribute to the economy

Wetherspoon and other pub and restaurant companies have always generated far more in taxes than are earned in profits.

In the financial year ended 30 July 2023, the company generated taxes of £760.2 million.

The table below shows the £6.0 billion of tax revenue generated by the company, its staff and customers in the last 10 years. Each pub, on average, generated £6.8 million in tax during that period. The tax generated by the company, during this 10-year period, equates to approximately 25 times the company's profits after tax.

Note - this table is prepared on a cash basis. IFRS-16 from FY20 onwards.

Corporate governance

Wetherspoon has been a strong critic of the composition of the boards of UK-quoted companies.

As a result, Wetherspoon has increased the level of experience on the Wetherspoon board by appointing four "worker directors".

Further progress

As always, the company has tried to improve as many areas of the business as possible, on a week-to-week basis, rather than aiming for 'big ideas' or grand strategies.

Frequent calls on pubs by senior executives, the encouragement of criticism from pub staff and customers and the involvement of pub and area managers, among others, in weekly decisions, are the keys to success. Wetherspoon paid £36.0 million in respect of bonuses and free shares to employees in the period ended 31 July 2023, of which 98.6% was paid to staff below board level and 83.4% was paid to staff working in our pubs.

Wetherspoon has been the biggest corporate sponsor of 'Young Lives vs Cancer' (previously CLIC Sargent), having raised a total of £22.2 million since 2002. During the pandemic, our contributions had been reduced, but, since the reopening of our pubs' there have been great efforts seen and our contributions have bounced back significantly.

Bonuses and free shares

1 IFRS 16 was implemented in the year ending 26 July 2020 (FY20). From this period all profit numbers in the above table are on a post-IFRS 16 basis. Before this date all profit numbers are on a pre-IFRS 16 basis.

2 Excludes 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Length of Service

The attraction and retention of talented pub and kitchen managers are important for any hospitality business. As the table below demonstrates, the retention of managers has improved, even during the pandemic.

Food Hygiene Ratings

Wetherspoon has always emphasised the importance of hygiene standards.

We now have 753 pubs rated on the Food Standards Agency's website (see table below). The average score is 4.99, with 99.2% of the pubs achieving a top rating of five stars. We believe this to be the highest average rating for any substantial pub company.

Property litigation

In 2013, Wetherspoon agreed an out-of-court settlement of approximately £1.25 million with developer Anthony Lyons, formerly of property leisure agent Davis Coffer Lyons, relating to claims that Mr Lyons had been an accessory to frauds committed by Wetherspoon's former retained agent Van de Berg and its directors Christian Braun, George Aldridge and Richard Harvey in respect of properties in Leytonstone (which currently trades as the Walnut Tree), Newbury (which was leased to Café Rouge) and Portsmouth (which currently trades as The Isambard Kingdom Brunel).

As part of a series of cases, Wetherspoon also agreed out-of-court settlements with:

• Property investor Jason Harris, formerly of First London and now of First Urban Group who paid £400,000 to to Wetherspoon to settle a claim in which it was alleged that Harris was an accessory to frauds committed by Van de Berg. Harris contested the claim and did not admit liability.

Messrs Ferrari and Harris both contested the claims and did not admit liability.

Press corrections

The press and media, over the decades, have generally been fair and accurate in reporting on Wetherspoon. However, in the febrile atmosphere of the first lockdown, something went awry and a number of harmful inaccuracies were published.

In order to try to set the record straight, a special edition of Wetherspoon News was published, which includes details of the resulting apologies and corrections. It can be found on the company's website https://www.jdwetherspoon.com/~/media/files/pdf-documents/wetherspoon-news/does-truth-matter_.pdf.

Board changes

Su Cacioppo retired from the Wetherspoon board on the 7th October 2022, after 31 years with the company. Su started as a pub manager in 1991, then became an area manager, before eventually becoming the board director responsible for the personnel, legal and marketing departments in 2008.

Sir Richard Beckett KC also retired from the board at last year's AGM, after 13 years as a non-executive director of the company, latterly as head of the nominations committee.

I would like to thank sincerely Su and Richard for their dedicated, creative and conscientious work over many years.

Pubwatch

Pubwatch is a forum which has improved wider town and city environments, by bringing together pubs, local authorities and the police, in a concerted way, to encourage good behaviour and to reduce antisocial activity.

Wetherspoon pubs are members of 538 schemes country wide.

The company also helps to fund National Pubwatch, founded in 1997 by just two licensees and a police office. This is the umbrella organisation which helps to set up, co-ordinate and support local schemes.

In our view, Pubwatch is integral to making towns and cities a safe environment for everyone.

Current trading and outlook

Wetherspoon continues to perform well. In the first 9 weeks of the current financial year, to 1 October 2023, like-for-like sales increased by 9.9%, compared to the 9 weeks to 2 October 2022.

As we said last year, perhaps the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the possibility of further lockdowns and restrictions.

Those interested in the UK Government's response to the pandemic may like to read the reports by Professor Francois Balloux, director of the UCL Genetics Institute, in The Guardian, and by Professor Robert Dingwall, of Trent University, in the Telegraph

(see pages 54-56 of Wetherspoon News

Indeed, as some commentators have noted, lockdowns were not contemplated in the UK's laboriously compiled prepandemic plans. It appears that these plans were jettisoned, early on in the pandemic, in favour of copying China's lockdown approach - an example, perhaps, of Warren Buffett's so-called "institutional imperative" - "everyone else has locked down, so we will, too".

The company currently anticipates a reasonable outcome for the financial year, subject to our future sales performance.

INCOME STATEMENT for the 52 weeks ended 30 July 2023

J D Wetherspoon plc, company number: 1709784

1 Restated, see note 8.

STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME for the 52 weeks ended 30 July 2023

Items which will be reclassified subsequently to profit or loss:

CASH FLOW STATEMENT for the 52 weeks ended 30 July 2023

J D Wetherspoon plc, company number: 1709784

1 Free cash flow is a measure not required by accounting standards; a definition is provided in the accounting policies

BALANCE SHEET as at 30 July 2023

The share premium account represents those proceeds received in excess of the nominal value of new shares issued. £124,000 has been recognised during the year (2022: nil) in relation to the issue of shares in previous periods.

Other reserves contain net proceeds received for share placements which took place in previous periods. The other reserve as used as this is determined to be distributable for the purposes of the Companies Act 2006.

See note 22 for details on the hedging reserve within the accounts.

As at 30 July 2023, the company had distributable reserves of £251.4 million (2022: £173.7 million).

NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Revenue

1Included in cost of sales is £654.3 million (2022: £599.8 million) relating to cost of inventory recognised as expense.

Rank settlement

In the previous year, the company recognised £27,771,000 from HMRC in relation to a long-standing claim, regarding the historic VAT treatment of slot/fruit machines.

Local government support grants

The company has recognised £54,000 (2022: £1,443,000) of local government support grants in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Duty drawback

In the previous year, a credit of £170,000 was recognised for duty drawback was received for perished stock during the period in relation to the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK.

Other operating costs

As outlined in note 29 of the accounts, the company is in an ongoing contractual dispute with a large supplier. Costs of £1,076,000 have been recognised in relation to this dispute.

Separately disclosed items (continued)

Property losses

In the table on the previous page, those costs classified under the 'separately disclosed property losses' relate to the loss on disposal of sites sold during the year.

Other property losses

Property impairment relates to pubs which are deemed unlikely to generate sufficient cash flows in the future to support their carrying value. In the year, a total impairment charge of £35,966,345 (2022: £19,904,000) was incurred in respect of the of property, plant and equipment and £3,377,000 (2022: £3,964,000) was incurred in respect of right of use assets, as required under IAS 36. There were impairment reversals of £5,430,153 recognised in the year (2022: £2,668,000).

In the year, a total impairment charge of £4,448,441 (2022: £1,015,000) was incurred in respect of the impairment of our investment properties.

There was no impairment charge relating to assets under construction (2022: £2,215,000).

Separately disclosed finance costs

The separately disclosed finance costs of £1,038,000 relate to covenant-waiver fees (2022: £1,000,000).

Separately disclosed finance income

The company has separately disclosed finance income of £97,724,000 (2022: £52,859,000). £71,124,000 (2022: £48,527,000) relates to the fair value on interest-rate swaps recognised in the P&L, £13,290,000 (2022: £8,143,000) relates to hedge ineffectiveness at termination, based on highly probable cash flows and £13,310,000 (2022: £3,802,000) relates to the amortisation of the hedge reserve to the P&L relating to discontinued hedges. See note 22 in the accounts.

Taxation

The tax effect on separately disclosed items is a charge of £22,190,000 (2022: £14,664,000) and relates primarily to; derivative contracts (£16,345,000 charge) (2022: £10,009,000).

Employee benefits expenses

For further details of directors' emoluments including the highest paid director and details on the number of directors' accruing a pension, please see the directors' remuneration report on pages 67-75 of the annual report.

Employee benefits expenses (continued)

For details of the share incentive plan and the deferred bonus scheme, refer to the directors' remuneration report on pages 67-75 of the annual report.

Finance income and costs

• Income tax expense
• Tax on profit/(loss) on ordinary activities

The standard rate of corporation tax in the UK is 25.0%, having increased from 19% on 1 April 2023. The company's profits for the accounting period are taxed at a rate of 21.0% (2022: 19.0%) being the blended tax rate applicable in the period.

• Income tax expense (continued)
• Reconciliation of the total tax charge

The taxation charge for the 52 weeks ended 30 July 2023 is based on the pre-separately disclosed profit before tax of £42.6 million and the estimated effective tax rate before separately disclosed items for the 52 weeks ended 30 July 2023 of 20.5% (July 2022: 18.3%). This comprises a pre- separately disclosed current tax rate of 0% (July 2022: 0.1%) and a pre- separately disclosed deferred tax charge of 20.5% (July 2022: 18.3% charge).

The UK standard weighted average tax rate for the period is 21% (2022:19%). The current tax rate is lower than the UK standard weighted average tax rate owing to tax losses brought forward and previously disallowed interest being deductible in the period.

• Income tax expense (continued)
• Deferred tax

The deferred tax in the balance sheet is as follows:

The main rate of corporation tax increased to 25% on 1 April 2023. Deferred tax balances have been recognised at the rate they are expected to reverse.

The company has recognised deferred tax assets of £18.2 million (2022: £36.4 million), which are expected to be offset against future profits. This includes a deferred tax asset of £17.1 million (2022: £35.8 million), in respect of UK tax losses. Included within other temporary differences is £6.8 million (2022: £5.5 million) of chargeable gains rolled over on the acquisition of new assets.

Deferred tax assets and liabilities have been offset as follows:

As at 30 July 2023, the company had a potential deferred tax asset of £9.7 million (2022: £10.9 million) relating to capital losses (gross tax losses £34.5 million (2022: £35.0 million)) and tax losses in the Republic of Ireland (gross tax losses £24.2 million (2022: £18.4 million)). Both types of losses do not expire and will be available to use in future periods indefinitely. A deferred tax asset has not been recognised, as there is insufficient certainty of recovery.

Earnings and free cash flow per share

Weighted average number of shares

Basic earnings/(loss) per share is calculated by dividing the profit/(loss) after tax for the period by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the financial year of 128,750,155 (2022: 128,750,155) less the weighted average number of shares held in trust during the financial year of 3,296,278 (2022: 1,924,810). Shares held in trust are shares purchased by the company to satisfy employee share schemes that have not yet vested.

Diluted earnings/(loss) per share is calculated by dividing the profit/(loss) after tax for the period by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the financial year adjusted for both shares held in trust and the effects of potentially dilutive shares. For the company, the dilutive shares are those that relate to employee share schemes that have not been purchased in advance and have not yet vested. In the event of making a loss during the year, the diluted loss per share is capped at the basic earnings per share as the impact of dilution cannot result in a reduction in the loss per share.

1 Impact of dilutive shares was omitted in error from FY22 earnings (profit after tax) per share.

Cash used/in generated from operations

The non-cash movement in bank loans and the private placement relate to the amortisation of loan issue costs. The amortisation charge for the year of £1,246,000 (2022: £1,983,000) is disclosed in note 6. These are arrangement fees paid in respect of new borrowings and are charged to the income statement over the expected life of the loans.

Dividends paid and proposed

No final dividend has been proposed for approval at the annual general meeting for the 52 weeks ended 30 July 2023 (2022: Nil). The board will continue to review the dividend policy.

Intangible assets

The majority of intangible assets relate to computer software and software development. Examples include the development costs of the Wetherspoon customer-facing app and other bespoke J D Wetherspoon applications.

Property, plant and equipment

During the period, an amount of £41,646,000 (2022: £42,777,000) was spent on the reinvestment of existing pubs. £11,202,000 (2022: £25,773,000) was spent on freehold reversions. £20,361,000 (2022: £58,789,000) was spent on investment in new pubs and pub extensions. This led to a total capital expenditure of £73,209,000 (2022: £127,339,000).

Reclassifications relate to assets transferred from short leasehold property to freehold and long leasehold property upon a freehold reversion.

Investment property

The company owns six (2022: six) freehold properties with existing tenants - and these assets have been classified

as investment properties:

£000

Cost:

Rental income received in the period from investment properties was £1,197,000 (2022: £790,000).

At the year end, the investment properties were independently valued at £18,740,000 giving rise to an impairment charge of £4,448,000 (2022: £1,015,000) was incurred to adjust their net book value.

Events after the balance sheet date

On 22 August 2023, the company disposed of all interest rate swaps in place, receiving £14.8 million to do so. At the same time, the company took out a new interest-rate swap of £200 million from 23 August 2023 through to 6 February 2025 at a rate of 5.665%. On 25 September 2023, the company took out a further interest-rate swap of £400 million from 6 February 2025 to 6 February 2028 at a rate of 4.225%.

On 21 September 2023, the company announced that 11 of its pubs will be put on the market as part of a one-off disposal programme. Management has concluded this to be a non-adjusting event on the basis that events and conditions arose after the end of the financial period.

Contingent liability

The company is in an on-going contractual dispute with a large supplier. The outcome of the dispute is yet to be determined and will be resolved by a legal process. Disclosing any further information at this stage about the ongoing contractual dispute, its financial effect (if any) and uncertainties relating to the amount or timing of any outflow might be prejudicial to the company's position.

Going Concern

The directors have made enquiries into the adequacy of the Company's financial resources, through a review of the Company's budget and medium-term financial plan, including capital expenditure plans and cash flow forecasts. In line with accounting standards, the going concern assessment period is the 12-months from the date of approval of these accounts (approximately the end of quarter 1 of FY25). Given the proximity to the going concern review period, the Company has also considered the February 2025 expiry of its current revolving credit facility in its assessment.

The Company has modelled a 'base case' forecast in which recent momentum of sales, profit and cash flow growth is sustained. The Company has anticipated within this forecast continued high levels of inflation, particularly on wages, utility costs and repairs. The base case scenario indicates that the Company will have sufficient resources to continue to settle its debts as they fall due and operate within its leverage covenants for the going concern assessment period.

A more cautious but plausible scenario has been analysed, in which sales for FY24 are in line with FY23 (ie no sales growth). The Company has reviewed, and is satisfied with, the mitigating actions that it could take if such an outcome were to occur. Such actions could include reducing discretionary capital expenditure, reducing costs or implementing price increases. Under this scenario, the Company would still have sufficient resources to settle liabilities as they fall due and sensible headroom on its covenants through the duration of the going concern review period.

The Company has also performed a 'reverse stress case' which shows that the Company could withstand a 12% reduction in sales from those assessed in the 'base case' throughout the going concern period, as well as costs assumed to increase at a similar level to the downside scenario, before the covenant levels would be exceeded towards the end of the period. The directors consider this scenario to be remote as, other than when the business was closed during the pandemic, it has never seen sales decline at anywhere close to that rate. Furthermore, the Company could take additional mitigating actions, in such a scenario, to prevent any covenant breach.

The directors have determined that, over the period of the going concern assessment, there is not expected to be a significant impact resulting from climate change.

Following the cessation of a period of lender-agreed relaxed covenants to 30 July 2023, the Company has reverted to its original covenant targets and the Company is confident that these targets will be met in the going concern assessment period.

As set out in Note 20 of the accounts, the secured Revolving Credit Facility totalling £875 million of which £630 million was drawn at 30 July 2023, matures in February 2024 (£20m) and February 2025 (£855m).

As the directors believe that the positive trading and cash flow trends which have been experienced in the period to 30 July 2023 will continue, coupled with increasing certainty over cost inflation, the Company has chosen not to formally commence any refinancing exercise as at the date of these accounts.

Given the Company's strong financial position and current trading performance, the directors are confident that the Company will be able to refinance its debt facilities when it is required to do so. The Company has had frequent conversations to date with its longstanding lending syndicate and advisors.

These discussions have highlighted multiple refinancing options and very good levels of support. These factors, combined with the alternative liquidity options available to the Company, provide the Directors with appropriate assurance that the prospect of not being able to refinance is remote and as such no material uncertainty exists.