Coronavirus: Joules secures £15m credit boost as crisis hits high street
Joules today said it has added £15m to its revolving credit facility as the fashion retailer battles a sharp decline in sales caused by the coronavirus crisis.
The credit boost, agreed with Barclays, follows a share placing earlier this month that raised £15m.
Joules has already taken a number of measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, including scrapping its interim dividend and cutting its staff, supplier and rent costs.
It said these measures combined with a bolstered balance sheet would allow the company to emerge “relatively stronger” from the crisis. Joules had net debt of £6.9m at 19 April and cash headroom of £43.1m.
The upmarket retailer today said its online sales were ahead of original forecasts, while customer engagement was strong across its social media channels.
Ecommerce usually represents roughly half of the company’s overall retail sales.
“The completion of the additional facility with Barclays provides Joules with further liquidity to navigate these challenging times and positions the business to continue to progress its strategic growth plans following the current period of significant disruption,” said chief executive Nick Jones.
“Our ecommerce sales over recent weeks continue to demonstrate the strength of the Joules brand and the loyalty of our customer base.”
Joules said it has so far raised nearly £35,000 for NHS Charities Together through its Rainbow Edit collection, which was launched earlier this month.
The brand has also sourced 50,000 face masks through its supply chain for local Leicestershire health services.