Stonegate suffers £746m loss due to Covid-19

Stonegate Pub Company has revealed it made a loss-before-tax of £746m for the full year ended 27 September 2020.

The group, which is owned by TDR Capital, saw revenues fall 17.1% from £853m in FY 2019 to £707m.

However, through its £1.27bn acquisition of Ei Group in March 2020, Stonegate said that it has gained “access to a wider portfolio of properties and broader template of operating models”.

The company extended its estate to 4,708 venues through the deal, and operated 3,235 leased and tenanted pubs at the end of the period.

Stonegate added: “The directors believe that there is strong strategic rationale for combining Stonegate and Ei Group, with complementary portfolios and skills.

“With greater scale and diversification, the combined group will be better positioned to compete effectively to the benefit of customers, tenants, employees, and other stakeholders.”

Stonegate has increased its net assets to £437m, up from net liabilities of £12m during the previous financial year.

Looking ahead, the group said that it has “sufficient funds to meet its liabilities as they fall due”, despite the continued closure of the hospitality sector.

Simon Longbottom, chief executive at Stonegate, said: “This has been an incredibly challenging year for all with the pub and wider hospitality sector amongst the hardest hit as has been well documented.

“Whilst there is still a long road ahead to  rebuild trading back to pre-pandemic levels, the Great British pub has consistently proved its resilience over the centuries and will do so again.”