Fri 25th Oct 2013 - Krispy Kreme UK plunges into red, renegotiates covenants Krispy Kreme UK plunges into red, renegotiates covenants: Krispy Kreme UK has reported a pre-tax loss of £2.8m in the year to 31 January 2013, despite increasing sales by 6% to £45.01m. The company made a profit of £1.3m the year before. It opened nine sites in the year, to take its total to 54 by the end of the financial year. Krispy Kreme UK has suspended openings of new sites while it focuses on profitability, and reported a strong trading performance during the first seven months of 2013. A further factory store was opened in February in Edinburgh to increase its presence in Scotland. A Companies House filing said: “Following the opening of several new stores in the year, the company is now focused on improving the profitability of its existing operations and expects to return to new store openings in due course. The directors are pleased with the trading performance of the group since February 2013 and in particular the performance of the new Edinburgh store. Company loans and covenants were renegotiated in July this year.” The company said it would now “trade comfortably" within the new covenants agreed, reflecting the directors' view that the “wider Krispy Kreme group will report improved performance over the coming period”. Mike Dowell, a former Costa Coffee and Pitcher & Piano executive, joined the company as a director in July. Krispy Kreme UK's net liabilities are £13.26m. The company said: “Agreement was reached on 19 July with both Santander and Indigo for the waiver of covenant breaches and revision of the rolling quarterly covenants for the current year, which was adjusted for the underperformance in the year. Indigo also agreed to the deferral of all interest due under the loan facility by the company’s immediate parent undertaking, Frimley Bidco.” Gross profit margin in the 2013 year dropped to 47% from 49.7% the year before. The company reported an adjusted Ebitda of £1.48m, down 65% from £4.19m the year before, but gave no explanation of how the figure is arrived at.