Sweet treats: Cake Box to repay furlough money after rise in sales
Cake Box today said it will repay the money it received under the government’s coronavirus furlough scheme and pay a special dividend after posting a sharp rise in sales in the last three months.
The cream cake specialist said it would hand back £156,000 it had secured and would make no further claims under the job retention scheme.
The company added that it had decided to pay a special dividend equal to the final dividend for the year ending 31 March.
As a result, shareholders will receive a payment of 3.2p per share on 23 October.
It came after the retailer enjoyed a surge in sales in the aftermath of the coronavirus lockdown, when the chain was forced to shut all of its 133 stores.
Since reopening sites at the beginning of June, the company has enjoyed like-for-like growth of 14 per cent for in-store sales. Online sales also soared 74 per cent on the same period last year, boosted by its delivery services through Uber Eats, Just Eat and Deliveroo.
Cake Box said it had enjoyed an additional boost from birthdays as people chose to celebrate their lockdown birthdays belatedly.
Sales have also been driven by the rising popularity of cheesecakes, with more than double the amount of these sweet treats sold in recent weeks than the same period last year.
Cake Box said it has opened five new stores since the end of lockdown, including in Swindon and Basingstoke, and said it was targeting further new store openings.
The company is also recruiting for new roles at its central headquarters to help support expansion plans.
Main image credit: Cake Box