British chocolatier Hotel Chocolat has increased its banking facilities to help get it through the coronavirus crisis.
The firm said it had agreed a 35 million pounds ($43.5) million) revolving credit facility with Lloyds Bank, replacing a 10 million pounds overdraft. The new facility follows a 22 million pounds equity placing in March.
Hotel Chocolat closed all its stores on March 23 in line with the UK lockdown. It said this had a material impact on Easter trading but was partly mitigated by online sales.
'Differentiated Products'
“Hotel Chocolat is a strong brand with differentiated products, a loyal customer base, and a vertically integrated direct-to-consumer business mode, built for agility," commented chief executive Angus Thirlwell. "It is a reflection of these attributes that we have been able to add additional banking cover to the over-subscribed equity placement in March.
"The financial headroom gives us greater resilience against ongoing disruption and enables us to move onwards with longer-term growth opportunities."
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
