Brighton Pier Group’s Bars division achieved revenue of £11.2m in the 52 weeks to 26 June 2022, compared to £1.3m in 2021.

The leisure and entertainment group, which achieved total revenue for the period of £40.1m – up 25% on the same period in 2019, said that on a like-for-like basis, sales in its bar division were up 21% on pre-Covid levels, with EBITDA of £3m, up from £1.8m.

Its Bars division trades under a variety of concepts including Embargo República, Lola Lo, Le Fez, Lowlander and Coalition. During the period, the division completed its rationalisation programme, with the disposal of its last marginal site in September 2021 (Smash in Reading), which resulted in a gain of £0.7m upon realisation.

The group said overall performance had been driven by strong trading across all of its divisions.

Group EBITDA was £10.8m, up from £5.1m last year, with profit before tax of £7.3m (£4.1m in 2021).

A consistent gross margin performance, combined with government support from temporary reductions in VAT and business rates, has also enabled the group to make good progress on maximising earnings and paying down debt, it said.

Since the end of the previous financial year, it has reduced its net debt by 62% to £5m.

Sales in the nine weeks to 28 August 2022 were up 1% on a like-for-like basis versus the same period in 2019, benefiting from strong trading at the Pier. The Bars division was adversely impacted by the hot weather over the summer months, with sales down 11% on pre-Covid levels, at £1.7m.

Anne Ackord, chief executive officer, commented: “The Group’s strong recovery following the COVID pandemic has resulted in sales of more than £40 million for the first time in the Group’s history. This reflects the hard work of all the Group’s employees, for which we are very grateful.

This exceptional period has benefitted both from pent-up customer demand and from hospitality-targeted Government recovery packages. The ongoing cash-generative nature of the Group’s diverse businesses and strong balance sheet add resilience to The Brighton Pier Group.

Nevertheless, as we enter into unchartered waters, economic headwinds make it difficult to predict both costs and consumer demand, so our outlook for the future must be one of caution.”