Last year, Revolution Bars' (RBG) results were overshadowed by a fierce bidding war between Stonegate Pub Group and nightclub owner Deltic. Both offers for the company eventually fell through, but in an unexpected plot twist Revolution has now announced it’s in "early stage" discussions to acquire Deltic. Management refused to provide us with further detail on why its considering acquiring a past bidder. But exceptional charges of £11.1m over the past year already include £3.3m from fees and expenses related to bids, resulting in an operating loss of £3m.
Revolution Bars has also undergone a number of management changes since the failed offers, most notably the resignation of chief executive Mark McQuater, since replaced by Rob Pitcher. The new board seems keen to better understand its key customer base of "young professionals", having built a bigger presence on social media and developed an in-house table booking system. It also recently sent a research team to Ibiza and New York to see how millennials party. Now, Revolution is busy developing a click-and-collect option – an adjunct to its existing partnership with Deliveroo – to capitalise on the growing takeaway culture. Even so, management said it would maintain its focus on drinks and cocktails.
Analysts at Peel Hunt expect adjusted pre-tax profit of £8.8m during the year to June 2019, giving adjusted EPS of 13.4p, up from £8m and 13p in FY2018.
| REVOLUTION BARS (RBG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 122p | MARKET VALUE: | £61m | |
| TOUCH: | 121-123p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 214p | LOW: 113p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.7% | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 57p | NET DEBT: | 41% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 112 | 2.6 | 6.0 | nil |
| 2015 | 112 | 2.9 | 4.6 | 1.7 |
| 2016 | 120 | 5.1 | 8.8 | 3.3 |
| 2017 | 130 | 5.2 | 7.7 | 3.3 |
| 2018 | 142 | -3.6 | -5.7 | 3.3 |
| % change | +9 | - | - | - |
| Ex-div: | 8 Nov | |||
| Payment: | 7 Dec |
