The coronavirus pandemic, lockdown and the one meter rule have posed fierce challenges to the nightlife industry. This is well illustrated by the annual accounts of nightlife giant Rekom Norge, which owns nightclubs such as Heidi’s Bier Bar, Lawo and Hygge.
After losing NOK 58.7 million in 2020, as the group received around NOK 200 million from shareholders in March 2020 to secure and enhance liquidity, 2021 was also a dark year.
2021 was a challenging year
The company ended up with a pre-tax profit minus NOK 48.1 million and took an additional NOK 60 million from its Danish owners. At the same time, the company received NOK 180 million from the parent company through debt transfer.
2021 was a challenging year for all the players in the nightlife industry. Many of the nightclubs in Rekom Norge are nightclubs and bars, and measures such as reduced opening hours and table service requirements have greatly affected turnover. However, Rekom has a very strong economy and long-term owners, says General Manager Frederick Maigend.
Rekom Group is a Danish group and is the largest nightlife group in the Nordic region, with over 200 bars, bodegas and nightclubs in Denmark, Norway, Finland and the United Kingdom.
State aid 32.2 million
The company received 32.2 million NOK in state support in 2021. In 2020, the company received 9.5 million NOK in corona compensation for the months of November and December 2020, in addition to approximately NOK 14 million in March, April and May 2020. According to E24.
The most important thing for Rekom is to be able to get as many people into action as possible through the pandemic. So we applied for subsidy schemes that were available both nationally and locally. All of the subsidy schemes we received from the Norwegian authorities, says Mygind, went directly to paying employees’ salaries, as well as rent and other fixed costs.
Retailer for multiple purchases
Although 2021 was a tough year, Rekom kept making more acquisitions. Among other things, the company bought Stortorvets Gjæstgiveri for an amount of over NOK 46 million. The company aims to own more than 50 places in Norway.
We have acquired Tijuana in Oslo, are currently negotiating with several players at the moment on exciting projects across Norway, and feel confident to achieve our ambition of 50 or more venues in Norway by the beginning of 2023.
After reopening in February, Rekom kept all nightclubs open as usual.
– All over the country, we are now seeing a huge influx of guests who want to enjoy the nightlife again. This means that we are optimistic about the future and that Rekom will continue its major investment in Norway, says Mygind. (Conditions)Copyright Dagens Næringsliv AS and/or our suppliers. We would like you to share our cases using a link that leads directly to our pages. All or part of the Content may not be copied or otherwise used with written permission or as permitted by law. For additional terms look here.
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