Lomo Topco, the parent company of Rare Restaurants, has announced turnover for the group of £53m for the 53 weeks to 2 January 2022, up from £29.6m in 2020.
Operating EBITDA was £9.8m, compared to a loss of £2.4m the prior year, with the group recording adjusted operating EBITDA of £10.8m (2020: (£1.9m)).
Profit after tax amounted to £824k, compared to a loss of £11.5m in 2020.
At the year end the group operated 20 restaurants: 16 Gaucho, two under the M brand and one Crane Tap site in the UK, as well as one CAU restaurant in the Netherlands.
It has since opened a new M Restaurant in Canary Wharf’s Newfoundland.
The group said that notwithstanding the impact of the various pandemic related trading restrictions, the business traded very well when its sites were fully open, with revenues over the second half of the year 30% above the same period in 2019.
It said its strong performance had continued post year-end.
Looking ahead to future developments, the directors report stated they wished to continue growing the business through the growing turnover within its existing estate and through new openings.
Speaking to MCA in July, CEO of Rare Restaurants, Martin Williams said the business had identified 36 target locations for opening new Gaucho sites.
“Gaucho Canary Wharf has enjoyed double digit growth since the pandemic,” Williams said. “We’ll have opened four new restaurants this year and are planning another three to four next year.”
Commenting on the effects of the war in Ukraine on its energy costs in Lomo Topco’s accounts, the group said it had taken a number of actions to mitigate the impact of cost increases and had fixed its utility costs at all existing sites until late 2025, prior to the commencement of the war.
