RETAIL NEEDS TO REOPEN, SAYS MOSAIC CHIEF

MOSAIC Brands boss Scott Evans, who is reeling from more than 600 of its Noni B, Katies and Miller stores being closed due to lockdowns, says “retail must open by October at the latest” as economic and health costs mount.

He said Australia needed to move on, describing the impact of lockdowns in NSW and Victoria as “torture and mental anguish”.

“Retail has to open in Victoria and NSW and across the country by the end of October. We all need to move forward from this,” Mr Evans said during an interview after the retailer raised $32m from investors to help weather the trading storm brought on by lockdowns.

As a result, retailer Spotlight, which is owned by the rich-lister Fried and Fraid families, has snapped up a $10m stake in Mosaic.

Mosaic shares surged almost 20 per cent, or 9c, to 54.5c on Monday.

“It is creating so much torture and mental anguish, and uncertainty, it is absolutely terrible and certainly if we are still in (lockdowns) by the end of October that is terrible, but if it is worse than that, that will be a disaster for a lot of retailers around the country,” Mr Evans said.

Mosaic operates about 1100 stores across Australia and New Zealand.

Mosaic’s capital raising will help bolster its balance sheet until lockdown measures are eased and stores reopen.

“We want to make sure that we work with our partners and carry on moving forward, so we are just going to shore up the balance sheet,” Mr Evans said.

The $32m capital raising consists of a $22m 1-for-4.39 pro-rata non-renounceable entitlement offer of notes to eligible shareholders. The retailer will have pro forma cash of about $88.1m after completion of the offers, the company says.