Fulham Shore, the David Page-led operator of Franco Manca, The Real Greek and Bukowski Grill, has this morning reported a rise in revenue from £5.5m to £13.9m in the six months ended 27 September 2015.
Operating profit for the period amountedto £1.7m (2014: £0.9m), while pre-tax profit fell from £628k to £126k.
The company said that the results reflect a full six months trading from The Real Greek and the Franco Manca restaurant in Tottenham Court Road in London which was run under a franchise agreement and five months trading reflecting the post-acquisition results of Franco Manca.
During the period, the group opened one The Real Greek restaurant in St Martin’s Lane in London’s West End and three Franco Manca pizzeria in Soho, Ealing, and Covent Garden. This took Fulham Shore’s restaurant portfolio as at 27 September 2015 to 24 restaurants made up of nine The Real Greek and 15 Franco Manca pizzeria.
During the six months, the group had net cash inflow from operating activities of £3m (2014: £1.5m). It invested £3.4m (2014: £0.5m) on property, plant and equipment.
On 21 April, at the same time as completing the acquisition of Franco Manca, the group completed a placing and subscription raising £4.75m (before expenses). Overall there was a net cash outflow for the period of £1.8m (2014: inflow of £0.7m) resulting in net debt as at 27 September 2015 of £0.3m (2014: £0.8m).
No dividend is being proposed by the Board.
Since the period end, the company has opened further Franco Manca restaurants in Earls Court, Bermondsey and Wimbledon. This takes the total number of restaurants operated today by the Group to 27, made up of nine The Real Greek and 18 Franco Mancas.
It is currently fitting out a further Franco Manca in Stoke Newington which is scheduled to open in March and the Bukowski franchise restaurant, which is planned to be opened in the spring of next year.
The Real Greek and Franco Manca are planning to open new restaurants, mainly in London and the Home Counties in the coming year and, for the first time, and the company expects to be opening Franco Manca pizzeria outside London during the financial year to March 2017.
Contracts have been exchanged on three sites in very different locations: Brighton; Guildford; and the large office and retail development of Nova Victoria.
The company said it continued to look for new sites, as well as investing in its operational team to support the future growth of its “restaurant endeavours”.
It said: “This will necessarily lead to our administrative costs increasing after the current financial year as we grow our business. In line with the group’s stated aims, the Board continues to seek investment opportunities which have potential for expansion and significant capital growth. We look forward to the conclusion of the financial year with confidence.”
