Today, the board of GOLDSTORY S.A.S. (the “Issuer”) and the Issuer’s shareholder approved a dividend payment of €50 million (the “Dividend”).
The dividend will be applied towards the previously announced repurchase by Altastory S.A.S., the indirect ultimate parent of the Issuer (the “Parent”), of a portion of the Parent’s bonds issued on 26 February 2021 (the “Vendor Bonds”).
As announced in the Issuer’s press release of 30 June 2022, the Parent and the subscribers of the Vendor Bonds agreed to amend the terms of the Vendor Bonds to provide that a total shareholder distribution of €125 million (including the €100 million distributed on 30 June 2022) would be permitted in exchange for an undertaking by the Parent to repurchase a total of €60 million in aggregate value, including principal amount and accrued interest, of its Vendor Bonds (the “Undertaking”). Today’s repurchase of €50 million, following the €10 million repurchase made on 30 June 2022, fulfills the Parent’s Undertaking in full.
On the date hereof, on a pro forma basis for the payment of the Dividend, the Consolidated Net Leverage Ratio of the Issuer calculated in accordance with the provisions of the indenture dated as of 4 February 2021 does not exceed 3.25x to 1.00. This would also be the case even after taking into account the payment of interest due on 1 September 2022 on the Issuer’s outstanding senior secured notes. Any additional dividends from the Issuer will be subject to compliance with the terms of the Issuer’s finance documents.
The group experienced strong performance during the summer with network sales at stores and e-commerce sales in each of June, July and August of 2022 exceeding by approximately 20% and 90% respectively such sales in the corresponding months of 2019.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release may include forward looking statements. These forward looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking terminology, including the terms “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “should” or “will” or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. These forward looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts and include statements regarding the Issuer’s intentions, beliefs or current expectations
concerning, among other things, the Issuer’s results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the industry in which it operates. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Readers are cautioned that forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and that the Issuer’s actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which it operates may differ materially from those made in or suggested by the forward looking statements contained in this press release. In addition, even if the Issuer’s results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which the Issuer operates are consistent with the forward looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments may not be indicative of results or developments in subsequent periods.
About THOM
We are a leading European jewelry retailer by number of stores, with a strong position in Europe in the affordable jewelry sector. Our product offering comprises primarily precious jewelry, complemented by watches and costume jewelry. We are active primarily in France and Italy, where we hold a leading market position in each national market. Our products are available through our network of 1,018 directly operated stores and 65 corners, including 551 stores and wedding fairs in France as well as 40 corners (including one store in Monaco), 385 stores in Italy, 51 stores in Germany, 26 stores and wedding fairs in Belgium as well as 2 corners, 3 stores and 23 corners in Spain and 2 stores in Luxembourg as of June 30, 2022, as well as 6 e-commerce platforms in France and Belgium (histoiredor.com and marc-orian.com), Italy (stroilioro.com) and Germany (orovivo.de). We also have 35 affiliated partner stores in France.
We sell our products under our six complementary main banners: Histoire d’Or (393 stores), Stroili (336 stores), Agatha (36 stores and 65 corners), Marc Orian (91 stores), TrésOr (66 stores), OROVIVO (51 stores) and Franco Gioielli (36 stores). We also operate, in France, 9 additional stores under the Smizze banner.
Contact
For further information, please contact:
Carole Danel
Tel: +33 (0) 1 44 52 76 35
E-mail: investorrelations@thomgroup.com