TIDMGUS
RNS Number : 0497G
Gusbourne PLC
22 July 2021
22 July 2021
Gusbourne Plc
("Gusbourne" or the "Company")
Trading and Capital Structure Update
Gusbourne Plc (AIM: GUS), the award-winning English sparkling
and still wine producer, provides the following trading and capital
structure update for the 6 months to 30 June 2021.
Highlights of First Half to 30 June 2021
-- Net revenue (1) for the 6 months ended 30 June 2021 is
expected to be up by 59% to c.GBP1.41m (2020: GBP0.89m)
notwithstanding further Covid related disruption to our hospitality
customers.
-- Further strong growth in sales from Direct To Consumer (DTC)
channels as the significant shift to DTC has continued during the
first half year, with DTC net wine revenue more than doubling that
of the prior year period. DTC sales for this period are expected to
represent c.30% (2020: 22%) of net wine revenue. This growth has
been supported by further strong online sales growth and increased
visitor numbers at our cellar door facilities in Kent.
-- UK Trade sales have rebounded sharply from their previous
decline in 2020 and are expected to represent c.45% of net wine
revenue for the half year (2020: 27%).
-- Ongoing success in international wine competitions during the
first half of the year, receiving a further 42 medals in 2021
including twelve gold medals and six trophies. Highlights include
the Judges Selection Medal in the prestigious Texsom awards in the
United States for our Brut Reserve 2016, a Platinum medal at the
Decanter World Wine Awards for our Blanc de Blancs 2016 and trophy
for 'Best Still Chardonnay' at the Wine GB awards for our Guinevere
2019.
These awards and increasing media coverage help to demonstrate
the quality and luxury status associated with the Gusbourne brand
and its vintage wines. The Company is attributing a growing
importance of its award-winning vintage still wines to future sales
plans.
Proposed Equity Fundraise
Following these continuing strong sales results, and in line
with our previously stated intentions, the Company has decided to
explore an equity fundraise of up to GBP15m to support further
revenue growth and brand development across all distribution
channels (DTC, UK Trade and International). The funds will also be
used to increase operational efficiencies and to support planned
ongoing business growth in the medium to longer term.
These investment plans will focus on further supporting strong
growth in DTC sales in particular, both online, and also offline at
cellar door operations at the Company's vineyards in Kent and
Sussex. The Company believes a combination of online and offline
engagement with customers is an important way of growing revenues
whilst ensuring that the Company maintains and develops the luxury
status that the Gusbourne brand of vintage wines represents.
Extension of maturity of short term loan and deep discounted
bonds
The Company currently has a short-term loan and deep discounted
bonds which are due for repayment on 15 August 2021 at GBP0.6m and
GBP5.5m respectively, a total amount of GBP6.1m. Of this amount,
GBP1.5m is due to some of the directors of the Company, GBP3.8m is
due to the major shareholder of the Company, and GBP0.8m is due to
third parties.
The Company announces that it has reached agreement with the
required majority of the holders of the deep discount bonds to
extend the maturity date of this debt from 15 August 2021 to 15
October 2021.
Extension of warrant exercise period
The Company currently has outstanding Warrants to subscribe for
2,024,017 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in issue. These Warrants
are exercisable at any time by the warrant holder, with an exercise
price of 75 pence per share until 29 July 2021. Most of these
warrant holders are also holders of the deep discounted bonds.
The Company announces that it has reached agreement with the
majority holders of the Warrants to extend the Exercise Period of
the warrants under the warrant instrument dated 2 September 2016
from 29 July 2021 to 29 October 2021.
Related Party Transactions
The GBP0.6m short term loan referenced above is due to Franove
Holdings Limited ("Franove"), a company wholly owned by Paul
Bentham, a Non-Executive Director of the Company.
GBP0.9m of the deep discounted bonds are due to Andrew Weeber, a
Non-Executive Director of the Company.
GBP3.8m of the deep discounted bonds are due to the major
shareholder of the Company, Lord Ashcroft.
The warrants are held by Lord Ashcroft, the major shareholder of
the Company, and Andrew Weeber, Ian Robinson, Lord Arbuthnot PC,
Mike Paul and Matthew Clapp, all Directors of the Company. The
number of warrants held by related parties are shown in the table
below:
Name Number
Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC 1,311,517
A Weeber 300,000
I Robinson 50,000
Lord Arbuthnot PC 5,000
M Paul 5,000
M Clapp 5,000
1,676,517
The extensions of the short term loan, deep discount bonds and
warrants exercise period therefore each constitute related party
transactions under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules. The Independent
Directors of the Company, having consulted with Canaccord Genuity
Limited in its capacity as the Company's nominated adviser for the
purposes of the AIM Rules, consider the terms of the transaction to
be fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are
concerned.
The Independent Directors of the Company for the purposes of
considering the related party transaction are Jim Ormonde
(Non-Executive Chairman), Charlie Holland (Chief Winemaker and
Chief Executive Officer) and Jon Pollard (Chief Vineyard Manager
and Chief Operating Officer).
Charlie Holland, Gusbourne's CEO and Chief Winemaker
commented:
"We are delighted to report significant year on year net revenue
growth of 59% in the first six months of 2021. This is a reflection
of our ongoing commitment to making wines of exceptional quality
and our continued development of the Gusbourne brand over the past
17 years.
With an established luxury brand positioned at the top end of a
rapidly growing English wine market, we believe now is the right
time to seek wider investor support to accelerate our growth plans
and add significant scale to the business."
(1) Net revenue is revenue reported by the Company, net of
excise duties payable, and before grants receivable.
For further information contact:
Gusbourne Plc
Charlie Holland +44 (0)1233 758 666
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
Bobbie Hilliam +44 (0)20 7523 8000
Georgina McCooke
Panmure Gordon (UK) Limited (Joint Broker) +44 (0)20 7886 2500
Oliver Cardigan
Hugh Rich
Ailsa MacMaster
Note: This announcement and other press releases are available
to view at the Company's website: www.gusbourneplc.com
Note to Editors
Gusbourne produces and distributes a range of high quality and
award winning vintage English sparkling and still wines from grapes
grown in its own vineyards in Kent and West Sussex.
The Gusbourne business was founded by Andrew Weeber in 2004 with
the first vineyard plantings at Appledore in Kent. The first wines
were released in 2010 to critical acclaim. Following additional
vineyard plantings in 2013 and 2015 in both Kent and West Sussex,
Gusbourne now has 231 acres of mature vineyards. The NEST visitor
centre was opened next to the winery in Appledore in 2017,
providing tours, tastings and a direct outlet for our wines.
Right from the beginning, Gusbourne's intention has always been
to produce the finest English sparkling wines. Starting with
carefully chosen sites, we use best practice in establishing and
maintaining the vineyards and conduct green harvests to ensure we
achieve the highest quality grapes for each vintage. A quest for
excellence is at the heart of everything we do. We blind taste
hundreds of samples before finalising our blends and even after the
wines are bottled, they spend extended time on their lees to add
depth and flavour. Once disgorged, extra cork ageing further
enhances complexity. Our winemaking process remains traditional,
but one that is open to innovation where appropriate. It takes four
years to bring a vineyard into full production and a further four
years to transform those grapes into Gusbourne's premium sparkling
wine.
We are one of England's most awarded wine producers. Highlights
include:
-- Three times winner of the International Wine & Spirits
Challenge (IWSC) English Wine Producer of the Year, having won the
award in 2013, 2015 and 2017- a unique achievement
-- Blanc de Blancs 2016 awarded platinum medal at 2021 Decanter World Wine Awards
-- Brut Reserve 2016 received the 'Judges Selection' award at 2021 Texsom in the United States
-- Trophy for best still white wine awarded for our Guinevere 2019 at Wine GB Awards 2021
-- Highest rated English sparkling wine by the Wine Enthusiast in 2020
-- Trophy for best English Still Red Wine at Wine GB awards three years running
-- Best in Class trophies at the Champagne & Sparkling World Championships in both 2018 and 2019
-- 'Best English Sparkling Wine' as well as overall 'IWC China
Champion Sparkling Wine 2019' at the International Wine Challenge
held in Shanghai
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