Debt repayments ruffle feathers at Peacocks
PEACOCKS, the budget clothing chain that made history with the first hedge fund-backed private buyout, sank further into the red last year.
The firm, which also operates the Bonmarché and Fragrance Shop businesses, made a post-tax loss of £7.3m in the 12 months to March. It made a £5.2m loss in 2008.
Peacocks took the bulk of the damage servicing its debt pile, which stood at £285m in April. Sales were slow over last Christmas, adding to its woes.
The company has had to juggle ambitious expansion plans with the need to look after its debt burden.
Chief executive Richard Kirk last year set out plans to double the size of the business, which runs 500 stores in the UK, tapping shareholders for £20m. However the board was forced to call off an £800m refinancing package as the credit crunch took hold.
In 2006 Peacocks became the first British company to be taken private by a hedge fund consortium in a £404m management buyout.
FAST FACTS PEACOCKS
&9679; Peacocks was set up in Warrington in 1884 by Albert Peacock, later moving to Cardiff
&9679; It listed on the Stock Exchange in 1999 but was taken private in 2006 in anMBO backed by Och-Ziff, Perry Capital and Goldman Sachs