Prezzo has announced that it is pleased with its Interim results (unaudited) for the 26 weeks ended 30 June 2013, and is confident of delivering satisfactorily for the year.
Highlights
- Revenue up 17% to £79.7 million (2012 – £68.1 million)
- Adjusted EBITDA up 14% to £12.6 million (2012 – £11.0 million)
- Adjusted pre-tax profit 12% higher at £8.5 million (2012 – £7.6 million)
- Statutory pre-tax profit of £8.2 million (2012 – £7.5 million)
- Adjusted diluted EPS up 15% to 2.79 pence (2012 – 2.43 pence)
- Diluted EPS were 2.64 pence (2012 – 2.38 pence)
- Currently 222 restaurants trading
Michael Carlton, Chairman’s statement
I am pleased to report that we have enjoyed an excellent start to the year with revenues up 17% to £79.7m (2012 – £68.1m) and adjusted pre-tax profit up 12% to £8.5m (2012 – £7.6m).
Results
Revenue for the 26 weeks ended 30 June 2013 was 17% higher at £79.7m (2012 – £68.1m), with adjusted EBITDA up 14% to £12.6m (2012 – £11.0m) whilst adjusted operating profit excluding non-trading items was up 12% to £8.5m (2012 – £7.6m).
Adjusted pre-tax profit was up 12% at £8.5m (2012 – £7.6m) and after a £354,000 (2012 – £111,000) charge for non-trading items (see details in note 4), stated pre-tax profit was £8.2m (2012 – £7.5m).
The effective tax rate for the period has been calculated at 25% (2012 – 26%). Adjusted diluted earnings per share were up 15% to 2.79p (2012 – 2.43p) and diluted earnings per share were 2.64p (2012 – 2.38p).
Estate development
We have opened 7 (2012 – 12) new restaurants (three Prezzo and four Chimichanga restaurants) and closed one unit during the period, so there were 216 (2012 – 193) units trading at the end of the period, with 181 Prezzo and 33 Chimichanga units.
These openings included our first opening in Northern Ireland, in Victoria Square in Belfast, a Chimichanga on Wimbledon Broadway and two units within the new Whiteley Shopping Centre at Fareham, in Hampshire. Since the end of the period we have opened a further 6 new restaurants and therefore we are currently trading from 222 (2012- 194) restaurants.
The pipeline for openings over the next 18 months is well developed and the second half will see openings in Windsor, Leeds, Oxford and Wembley. By the end of year, we would anticipate having opened approximately 30 new restaurants in 2013.
With this rate of growth in mind, we continue to strengthen the Prezzo team, with recent key appointments in the areas of Property, Supply Chain and Facilities Management, to ensure that expansion is carefully managed and costs are well-controlled.
Cash flows and financing
Cashflow generated from operations was £11.9m (2012 – £13.5m) and after £2.0m (2012 – £2.2m) of corporation tax payments, there was £10.0m (2012 – £11.4m) of free cash available for investment.
During the period, the cash outflow on property, plant & equipment was £13.7m (2012 – £12.5m) which covered capital expenditure on the fit out of new restaurants, as well as refurbishment and rebranding projects for the existing estate and the purchase of one freehold property for £1.1m (2012 – nil).
Overall, there was a net cash outflow of £2.6m (2012 – £0.8m) and at the end of the period we had net cash of £1.8m (2012 – £0.7m net borrowings).
We are comfortable that our strong cash generation will provide us with sufficient flexibility and resources to fund our anticipated expansion plans for the foreseeable future. As in previous years, no interim dividend will be paid.
Outlook
We are very pleased with the first half performance and, with our opening programme comfortably on track and providing some exciting opportunities over the remainder of the year, we remain confident of delivering a satisfactory outcome for the year as a whole.