Newbury Racecourse Plc AGM Statement

 
TIDMNYR 
 
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to 
  constitute inside information as stipulated under the Regulation 11 of the 
   Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019/310 ("MAR"). With the 
  publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this 
       inside information is now considered to be in the public domain. 
 
                                                                  2nd June 2021 
 
                            NEWBURY RACECOURSE PLC 
 
                    ("Newbury Racecourse" or the "Company") 
 
                                 AGM Statement 
 
At the Annual General Meeting to be held at Newbury Racecourse today, the 
Chairman, Dominic Burke, will make the following statement: 
 
As stated in the latest Annual Financial Statements, 2020 was an extremely 
challenging year for Newbury Racecourse with the impact of COVID-19 causing 
significant disruption to all parts of our business, which continues to this 
day. The British Horseracing Authority's decision to suspend all horseracing in 
the UK with effect from 17th March 2020 was quickly followed by the first UK 
lockdown. While we were delighted to be able to restart racing 'Behind Closed 
Doors' on 11th June 2020, the financial impact on the Company of the loss of a 
number of racedays and racing crowds was severe. 
 
In response, the Company took specific actions to protect our financial 
position in both the short and long term, which included a restructuring of the 
staff overhead, targeted cost reductions, a renegotiation of the banking 
covenants as well as deferring repayment of the final loan instalment to 
Compton Beauchamp Estates Limited to April 2022. The Company also benefitted 
from the use of the Government furlough scheme and Business Rates relief but 
did not utilise any of the Government loan support schemes. In December 2020 
the Company sold an unused 1.2 acre parcel of land for £1.5m, using some of 
these funds to purchase the freeholds of ten apartment blocks which were built 
as part of the racecourse redevelopment. 
 
We had entered 2020 with ambitious targets and a clear strategy to drive 
further growth in our business and there is no doubt that the impact of the 
pandemic has severely impacted this in the short-term. However I am confident 
that the difficult decisions and actions taken during the year has meant we are 
well placed to resume full trading activities once circumstances permit. 
 
Racing Highlights and Current Trading 
 
Despite racing without any crowds in attendance, the 2020/21 jump season 
managed to provide us with many memorable performances including Jonjo ONeill's 
first win in the Ladbrokes Trophy with 'Cloth Cap' and 'Bravemansgame' taking 
the Grade 1 Mansionbet Challow Novice's Hurdle for Paul Nicholls in December. 
February's Betfair Super Saturday saw another Paul Nicholl's trained horse, 
'Secret Investor', win the Betfair Denman Chase superbly ridden by Bryony Frost 
along with Jonjo Jr riding 'Soaring Glory' to victory in the Betfair Hurdle. 
 
The 2021 flat season got underway with Dubai Duty Free Spring Trials Weekend 
which saw 'Alcohol Free', trained locally in Lambourn by Andrew Balding, take 
the Dubai Duty Free Stakes and 'Chindit' emerge victorious in the historic 
Watership Down Stud Too Darn Hot Greenham Stakes. Favourite Al-Aasy took the 
Dubai Duty Free Finest Surprise Stakes with ease before returning to Newbury in 
May with another very impressive win in the Al Rayyan Stakes at the Al Shaqab 
Lockinge meeting. The feature race of this meeting, the £350,000 Al Shaqab 
Lockinge Stakes drew an excellent field with the Gosden trained 'Palace Pier' 
ridden by Frankie Dettori pulling away impressively from gallant mare 'Lady 
Bowthorpe'. This was Dettori's fifth win in Newbury's only Group 1 flat race 
moving him one behind Lester Piggott's record. 
 
2021 trading prospects remain dependent on the timescales for the easing of 
lockdown restrictions and any constraints on capacity once we are permitted to 
have crowds back at the racecourse. We are seeing encouraging sales for our two 
confirmed Party in the Paddock events, Olly Murs in August and Rick Astley in 
September but it's evident that the public are currently being cautious before 
committing to attending any events where the future restrictions are not known. 
To date we have relied on the income generated from our Betting and Media 
Rights to support the business whilst other revenues are being severely 
impacted and whilst our hospitality businesses remain closed, the Nursery 
remains open to all children. In the meantime we have also able to take 
advantage of the outdoors restrictions easing by hosting a socially distanced 
pub garden experience on the paddock lawn. 
 
During 2020 we were proud to have played our part in supporting the local West 
Berkshire community by providing our site to Age Concern for their Meals on 
Wheels programme and we also allowed the NHS free of charge use of our 
facilities as a local testing centre. In 2021 the NHS have again used our 
facility as a vaccination centre for the local community. 
 
The Development 
 
The impact of the pandemic on the trading business meant that in order to 
further protect our cash position we immediately cancelled all non-committed 
expenditure. The restoration and refurbishment of the Western End of the 
Berkshire stand and the Royal Box, that was already underway, was completed 
during the summer. The completion of this project marked the end of our major 
redevelopment of the racecourse heartspace and facilities. 
 
Our redevelopment has delivered a first class venue so we can continue to host 
racing of the highest quality, as well as having facilities which are well 
placed to meet the increasing demands of the modern day consumer, from horsemen 
and racegoers, to conference and hotel guests, nursery patrons and local 
residents. It is anticipated that the redevelopment will enable us to continue 
to grow our already well diversified business activities and maximise the 
returns from our investment. 
 
The David Wilson Homes residential development continued throughout 2020 after 
a short pause during the first lockdown and is now into its final phase, with 
approximately 950 of the total c.1,500 homes now built and sold, with a further 
80 currently in the construction phase. 
 
Outlook 
 
Following the vaccination rollout programme and the Government's current 
roadmap out of lockdown we are now in a position to be able to plan ahead. The 
Step 3 easing of restrictions from 17th May 2021 will enable us to welcome a 
paying attendance at the racecourse at our next meeting on 10th June 2021. 
Subject to Step 4 going ahead as planned on 21st June 2021 we can begin to make 
plans to re-open our Hotel and C&E functions later in the year and look ahead 
to hosting two Party in The Paddocks in August and September as well as the 
Ladbrokes Winter Carnival meeting in November all with crowds in attendance. 
However, we are still mindful that the effects of the pandemic and its impact 
on society could remain for some while to come, so we are prepared for this and 
can adapt the business accordingly. 
 
We are very aware of our responsibilities as a business to adhere to the 
restrictions that the Government have outlined and to ensure that we fully 
comply with the advice of the British Horseracing Authority on their 
recommended governance for hosting our racedays. We remain optimistic that the 
vaccination rollout programme and the management of COVID-19 cases mean that 
the roadmap timeline will enable us to proceed with our plans as outlined, so 
that we can look forward to the summer flat season and through to the autumn 
jumps season with crowds and full hospitality. 
 
The Board is confident that the Company has the financial resources to trade 
through this current year, even if further restrictions are put in place, 
particularly if there is a 'third spike' in infections from potential variants 
resulting in any further national or regional lockdowns. The difficult actions 
taken during 2020 have put the company in a strong position to recover quickly 
once the economy fully opens up and people return to normal life. The impact of 
the financial losses for the 2020 year and for the first half of 2021 remain 
substantial, but for how much longer remains uncertain. The Company will 
hopefully be able to provide further guidance on future financial performance 
when the interim financial results are reported in the Autumn. 
 
I am also pleased to announce that, following a competitive tender process, 
from yesterday we have entered into a joint-venture partnership agreement with 
Levy Restaurants (a division of Compass Group) to provide our raceday, events, 
hotel and nursery catering. Levy are highly respected within the hospitality 
sector, particularly sports venues, so we are very excited to be working with 
them. The board are confident that this relationship will provide the 
racecourse with access to innovative technology solutions, new restaurant, bar 
and food outlet concepts and improved commercial benefits for many years to 
come. 
 
We look forward to an exciting summer of racing and the remainder of what is 
set to be an interesting and challenging year for Newbury Racecourse. 
 
For further information please contact: 
 
Newbury Racecourse plc 
Tel: [phone] 
Julian Thick, Chief Executive 
Harriet Collins, Marcomms & Sponsorship Director 
 
Allenby Capital Limited 
                                Tel: [phone] 
Nick Naylor/Liz Kirchner (Corporate Finance) 
 
Hudson Sandler 
                                                                     Tel: 0207 
796 4133 
Charlie Jack 
 
 
 
END 
 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 02, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)