Interim figures from the AA contain so many variables that it is hard to discern the wood for the trees. The overall conclusion, though, is that management have much to do to move the business forward.
The AA spent about five years in the hands of private equity and not a lot of investment went into the brand or its operations. Those private equity owners loaded it with £3 billion of debt, restructured, to the group’s great advantage, in April.
This, though, left a one-off increase in financing costs of £87.4 million. These ballooned to more than £200 million in the half-year to July 31 and left a £51.1 million net loss. The AA is paying its first dividend, of 3.5p.
This, strictly speaking, is