By Scott Wright

FASHION retailer Quiz saw its shares soar after it agreed extended banking facilities with lender HSBC – two months after axing 93 jobs and closing 11 stores in a restructuring move.

In a statement to the stock market, the Glasgow-based company said the total bank facilities available to the business have doubled to £3.5 million from £1.75m. The package, which will remain in place until the end of October, comprise an overdraft of £2m and a working capital facility of £1.5m, with no financial covenants applicable.

Quiz said that, in addition to the facilities, the retailer had net cash of £5.7m as of Thursday (August 13).

The move to shore up the group’s financial position comes just weeks after the conclusion of a pre-pack administration deal in June, sparked by falling footfall, declining customer spend and rising operational costs amid the coronavirus pandemic.

READ MORE: Scottish fashion chain closes 11 stores with the loss of 93 jobs

The restructuring saw Kast, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Quiz that operated 82 stores in the UK and Ireland, move into administration on June 10, before the business and certain assets were acquired by Zandra, another subsidiary, for £1.3m later that day.

As a result of the move, 822 of the Quiz group’s 915 staff transferred to Zandra, though more than 90 jobs were lost with the closure of 11 of the 82 stores.

Speaking at the time, Quiz chief executive Tarak Ramzan commented: “It is with deep sadness and regret for some of our colleagues and partners that we had to take this decision to restructure the Quiz Group’s operations.

“The significant economic uncertainty coupled with the challenging economics of operating stores on traditional leases meant that, in order to ensure a sustainable future for the Quiz Group, we had to take this decision to place the subsidiary which operates our stores into administration.”

Shares in Quiz closed up 16.75 per cent, or 1.04p, at 7.25p.