Report of the Directors (continued)
charitable Donations
LSL Group companies in total made a number of charitable donations throughout the year totalling £65,000 (2011: £21,000). Further information
about the Group’s charitable initiatives is contained within the CSR Statement at page 55 of this Report. Through various charitable initiatives
across the Group, employees have also raised funds directly, including £24,990 via the Work Place Giving initiative which was set up in 2010. Group
companies do not make any political donations.
creditors and Supplier Payment Policy
LSL’s normal terms are to make payment in accordance with suppliers’ terms of trade or within 45 days (2011: 45 days) from the receipt of services
or invoices subject to satisfactory performance by the supplier. At 31st December 2012, the parent company had no trade creditors outstanding.
The payment terms of individual operating subsidiaries are disclosed in their accounts. For further details on LSL’s policy statement regarding the
management of suppliers, please see the CSR Statement on pages 50 to 56 of this Report.
going concern
The Group’s business activities, together with the factors likely to affect its future development, performance and position, are set out in the
Business Review on pages 10 to 25. The financial position of the Group, its cash flows, liquidity position and the Group’s policy for treasury and risk
management are described in the Financial Review on pages 20 to 23. Details of the Group’s borrowing facilities are set out in note 21 to the Financial
Statements. Note 29 to the Financial Statements describes the Group’s objectives, policies and processes for managing its capital; its financial risk
management objectives; details of its financial instruments and hedging activities; and its exposures to credit risk and liquidity risk. A description of
the Group’s principal risks and uncertainties and arrangements to manage these risks are detailed at pages 22 and 23 of this Report.
As explained in note 29 to the Financial Statements, the Group meets its day to day working capital requirements through a revolving credit facility,
which was renewed in June 2010 and the Group currently have a £75m facility which is committed for a period up to March 2014. As stated in note
19 as at 31st December 2012 the Group had available £49.0m of undrawn committed borrowing facilities in respect of which all conditions precedent
had been met. The Group’s forecasts and projections, taking account of reasonably possible changes in trading performance, show that the Group
should be able to operate within the terms of its current facility.
LSL’s revolving credit facility expires in March 2014 and the Directors have initiated discussions with a number of lenders to refinance the facility. The
refinance request has been received by all lenders positively and the Directors do not believe that there will be any issues in extending the facility and
will look to finalise negotiations in the first half of 2013.
The Directors have reviewed the Group’s forecasts and budgets, which have been stress tested with various changes to the assumptions underlying
the forecasts and budgets. The Directors also examined the Group’s financial adaptability as part of that review and concluded that, should it be
necessary, the Group would be able to respond to a reasonably foreseeable deterioration in market conditions by making further reductions to the
cost base, as achieved in prior years.
After making enquiries, the Directors consider that LSL and the Group have adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the
foreseeable future. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing this Report.
Disclosure of information to Auditors
Having made enquiries of fellow Directors and of the external auditors, each of the current Directors confirms that:
• to the best of his/her knowledge and belief, there is no information (as defined in the Companies Act 2006) relevant to the preparation of this
Report of which the external auditors are unaware; and
• he/she has taken all the steps a Director might reasonably be expected to have taken to be aware of relevant audit information and to establish that
the external auditors are aware of that information.
Directors’ Qualifying third Party indemnity Provisions
LSL had qualifying third party indemnity provisions for the benefit of the Directors in force from the start of the financial period to the date of this
Report, subject to the conditions set out in the Companies Act 2006. LSL has put in place ‘Directors & Officers Liability’ insurance to cover for this
liability.
30 ANNUAL REPORT AND ACCOUNTS 2012