The group had already flagged that it had to take rapid restructuring action to keep afloat, and the 2020 accounts just filed for Moo Print show the full extent of the pandemic’s impact on the previously fast-growing business.
Sales fell by 40% to $83.14m (£61.6m), while exceptional charges of $6.9m propelled the luxe web-to-print specialist to an operating loss of $11.18m (2019 operating profit: $1.56m).
US sales made up more than 72% of turnover, and adjusted EBITDA fell from $9.69m to $3.17m.
The group also benefited from $2.16m in support via the UK government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme.
The pre-tax loss for the year was $15.6m.
The exceptional charges included a $4.4m hit on vacating its 2,790sqm flagship office in Farringdon, with staff moved to short-term space while a more economical office facility is found for the longer term, and to accommodate new hybrid ways of working.
Headcount fell by 61 to 524, with associated redundancy costs of $1.5m, and Moo reduced its wage bill by more than $10m.
The highest-paid director’s salary more than halved, down 54% at $229,011.
Auditors BDO had previously flagged a material uncertainty over Moo’s ability to meet its banking covenants, but this has been cleared on the fresh accounts, which were signed off as a going concern.
In his commentary, chairman Darren Shapland explained that bank covenants “were initially waived and ultimately reset to better accommodate the revised trajectory of the business”.
The company also worked with its suppliers on extended terms to help it preserve cash while it recovered momentum “all of whom were highly accommodating”.
During the year Moo also raised a further $8.1m in convertible loans with a three-year maturity from its existing investors and from the British Business Bank’s Future Fund Scheme.
“We thank them for their support and ongoing confidence in the business whilst it has undergone these long-term improvements,” Shapland noted.
CEO Richard Moross praised the “incredible hard work” of Moo’s teams as employees put their efforts into the firm’s ‘Makeit Through’ plan, which was instigated in early April 2020.
He said Moo had been “completely restructured and refinanced” as a result “returning to positive cash flow from operations (excluding the paydown of pre-Covid creditor balances) and with revenues recovering across all markets”.
“Along with the cost restructuring, the pandemic has also given us the opportunity to reimagine our business,” Moross stated.
“The fundamental changes to the world of work and the backdrop of the climate crisis have pushed us to develop a new vision for Moo, encompassing a more thoughtful and more relevant approach to product development and a more empowering and agile culture.”
He said sales had recovered strongly during 2021 and Moo was now in a “very strong position” coming into 2022.
Regarding Brexit, Moo said that during 2021 “various solutions have been explored to ensure a smoother experience for the group’s EU customers, and to mitigate any additional financial impact”.
Moo set up a German subsidiary in 2020, but subsequent to the year-end said it had decided to liquidate the operation.
