Outstanding Debt

New Look’s funding strategy is to ensure that appropriate funds are available offering flexibility, timeliness and cost effectiveness to manage the requirements of the Group. The Group’s principal objective when managing capital is to safeguard the Group’s ability to continue as a going concern in order to provide returns to shareholders and benefits for stakeholders.

Other objectives are to adequately manage the group’s financial obligations, short term cash requirements and long term funding needs to support its business objectives including potential acquisitions and short term working capital swings. Whilst also to ensure that the Group has an adequate level of funding diversity in terms of investors and maturity.

The Group has debt covenants imposed by its lenders which it must achieve in order to maintain its current level of borrowings. Covenant tests are carried out quarterly and at the end of each financial period. There has been no breach of these covenants.  As at 26 March 2011, net debt was £1,070.1m (2010: £1,033.3m. Included within this figure are cash and cash equivalents of £191.4m (2010: £206.3m).

Outstanding debt summary table – as at 26 March 2011