Las Iguanas, the Bowmark Capital-backed chain, saw turnover break the £40m mark in the year to 30 March 2013, a period in which it ssaid like-for-like sales continued to perform “well ahead of the sector”, thanks to the positive impact of the Olympics on three of its London-based sites.
Turnover for the year stood at £40.9m, up from £33.8m, while pre-tax losses narrowed from just over £2m to £1.3m, during 12 months in which it opened three new sites in Cambridge, Kingston and Aberdeen.
The 30-strong group, which is currently led by co-founder Eren Ali, has opened two further sites since the year end in Plymouth and Cheshire Oaks and expects to add a further five restaurants during the remainder of its current financial year, with unit in Exeter, Swansea, Glasgow, Chester and at Cribbs Causeway, Bristol, all lined up.
The group said that interest of £3.1m accrued on an investor loan and administrative expenses of just over £1.5m led to the pre-tax loss for the year. At a gross operating level the business made a profit of £2.7m (2012: £1.7m).
The company said that each new site had exceeded “uncompromising ROCE targest set by the directors”.
It said that its sites in Stratford, the O2 Arena and the Southbank Centre had capitalised on the impact of last year’s Olympic Games.
The company, which will welcome Steve Hill as chief exective at the start of next year, said that it was confident it was well positioned to deliver further growth going forward as it continues to attract “high quality people” to work for it and benefit from the significant growth in the UK market for Latin American food.
It also reiterated that as its new site rollout gathes pace, there is an opportunity to moveits estate beyond 100 sites within the UK.
It is also believed to be close to securing a unit in Bournemouth.
Last December, co-founder Eren Ali said that Las Iguanas was set to explore opportunities internationally for the brand after receiving approaches from potential franchisees, with China and India mooted as possible destinations.
Hill, the former Wagamama chief executive, will take up his new role at Las Iguanas in January, and work under chairman Ian Neill.
