
UK pub operators report losses, job cuts as lockdown pain builds
British pub operators Mitchells & Butlers and Fuller, Smith & Turner posted millions in financial losses on Thursday and said they had cut around 2,000 jobs as the hospitality industry reels from the past month’s re-tightening of Covid-19 restrictions.
The larger of the two, M&B, which owns All Bar One, Harvester and Browns, said it had cut 1,300 jobs. Fuller’s said its total number of employees had been reduced by 20%, translating to around 990 job losses.
The companies said they have enough resources to operate in the foreseeable future, but the downside scenarios cast doubts about their ability to continue as going concerns.
“We are optimistic about the future in the medium term and beyond, but there is no doubt that this will be a tough winter,” Fuller’s CEO Simon Emeny said.
Others in the industry have already reduced their workforce, with Marston’s planning to cut 2,150 jobs and cheap beer specialist J D Wetherspoon has cut staff at its head office and airport pubs.
Pubs, restaurants and hotels have been among the hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, with social distancing measures and curfews hitting capacity even when establishments have not been forced to shut altogether by lockdowns.
The current lockdown in England started on Nov. 5 and is set to end on Dec. 2, but tough restrictions are expected to continue in many areas, and pubs and restaurants in the toughest third tier will only be allowed to reopen for takeaways.
M&B reported an adjusted pretax loss of 32 million pounds ($43 million) for the year ended Sept. 26 and Fuller’s a first-half loss of 22.2 million pounds.
With 1.56 billion pounds in net debt as of Sept. 26, M&B in June had agreed to revised financing arrangements with its main creditors to bolster its available reserves after avoiding a debt default in April.
Fuller’s, on the other hand, said it was confident it could secure revisions in its debt covenants beyond December and get credit lines beyond August.
Shares in the London-listed companies were flat in morning trade, and M&B is on course to lose around 50% of its market value and Fuller’s 24% this year.
M&B employs about 44,000 people in 1,700 pubs across the United Kingdom, while Fuller’s employed 4,957 according to its latest annual report.

Easter Sunday bombings: Lankan Catholic Church declares Black Sunday on March 7
- Church leaders have asked their congregations to attend Mass on Sunday dressed in black. Church bells will toll at 8: 45 a.m., the time of the near-simultaneous attacks.

Amazon tweaks its app icon after 'Hitler moustache' comparison
- The new design is very similar, but the adhesive tape strip has been redesigned to look nothing like a moustache.

BRICS bank grants over USD 1 billion Covid-19 assistance loan to China

Coronavirus variant infected many already recovered from Covid-19: Study
- The researchers estimated that the variant evades 25-61 per cent of protective immunity arising from infection with previously circulating variants.

Aim to vaccinate 40% citizens by end of July: China

Sri Lanka offers to develop new port terminal with India, Japan amid differences
- Caving in to pressure from labour unions, Sri Lanka decided on February 1 to scrap the agreement signed with India and Japan on developing the East Container Terminal (ECT) of Colombo port.

China's ex-finance minister says nation's fiscal situation 'extremely severe'

Doctors, teachers, a fortune-teller amongst Myanmar's new wave of detainees
- Some detainees are survivors of prison under the former junta. Some were taken from their homes, hundreds were seized by riot police and soldiers who charged down protests against the coup

US rights activist, former Clinton advisor Vernon Jordan dies at 85: Report

US announces sanctions on Russian officials, businesses for Navalny's poisoning
- The sanctions are the first ordered by President Joe Biden against Russia and will help set the tone for his relations with Putin.

Taliban collecting funds openly, Pak govt turning blind eye: Report

Merck to help make Johnson & Johnson's single-shot Covid-19 vaccine: Report

Sri Lanka approves new port development with India and Japan

Covid-19: Which countries have most number of fully vaccinated people?
- The number of fully vaccinated people are nowhere near the number of doses administered since most of the countries are using Covid-19 vaccines that require a two-doses regimen.

Multiple sclerosis patient sues Austria over health impact of climate change
- The case being filed next month before the European Court of Human Rights is supported by the environmental group Fridays for Future, which is helping to crowdfund the legal costs.