SFI this morning announced that Andrew Latham, the company's managing director of retail, will be the new chief executive when executive chairman Tony Hill downgrades his role in a couple of months.
The announcement came five months after SFI first said it was looking for an external candidate to be group chief executive, and as the City was growing increasingly twitchy about the failure to make an appointment and the departure of senior figures from the company, such as James Kowszun, the finance director, who is off to be chief executive of Hartford Group.
Latham originally joined SFI in 1987, leaving for Greenalls five years later. He re-joined SFI as commercial director in 1998 and was promoted to managing director retail in 2000.
The company also unveiled interim results for the
28 weeks ended 15 December 2001 which showed pre-tax profits up 22% to £9.3m as turnover rose 30% to £73m, with like-for-like growth of 4%. Ebitda rose 32% to £18m, and outlet contribution pre-rent increased to 37.7% from 36.3%.
Christmas trading saw total sales up 30.2%, with like-for-likes up 5.3%, towards the top end of the industry.
In a statement Hill said SFI now believed that numerically its Litten Tree brand, which now accounts for 32% of total group sales, has the greatest potential in the long term. Litten Tree sales increased by 36% in the half-year, while profit contribution grew 56%, even though there were only two openings in the period: like-for-like sales grew by 6%.
By the end of the financial year both Slug and Lettuce and Litten Tree will be approaching 60 outlets, Hill said. He revealed that SFI estimate there is a potential for its core brands of some 500 outlets, which would give SFI its long-term objective of a 20% share by value of the High Street Bars market. For 2001 the research company Mintel estimates the market to be worth £2.5bn, and it is predicting 10% growth this year, Hill said.
At the half year SFI operated 172 outlets, an increase of 28 since the year-end. Of those, 151 are high street bars, and in the second half, 18 more branded High Street outlets are due to be opened.
Hill, who will drop his executive role in April, revealed that he will be stepping down as chairman after the company's AGM in the autumn of 2003. He said the board expects to announce the appointments of a new finance director and retail director "in the near future".
The announcement came five months after SFI first said it was looking for an external candidate to be group chief executive, and as the City was growing increasingly twitchy about the failure to make an appointment and the departure of senior figures from the company, such as James Kowszun, the finance director, who is off to be chief executive of Hartford Group.
Latham originally joined SFI in 1987, leaving for Greenalls five years later. He re-joined SFI as commercial director in 1998 and was promoted to managing director retail in 2000.
The company also unveiled interim results for the
28 weeks ended 15 December 2001 which showed pre-tax profits up 22% to £9.3m as turnover rose 30% to £73m, with like-for-like growth of 4%. Ebitda rose 32% to £18m, and outlet contribution pre-rent increased to 37.7% from 36.3%.
Christmas trading saw total sales up 30.2%, with like-for-likes up 5.3%, towards the top end of the industry.
In a statement Hill said SFI now believed that numerically its Litten Tree brand, which now accounts for 32% of total group sales, has the greatest potential in the long term. Litten Tree sales increased by 36% in the half-year, while profit contribution grew 56%, even though there were only two openings in the period: like-for-like sales grew by 6%.
By the end of the financial year both Slug and Lettuce and Litten Tree will be approaching 60 outlets, Hill said. He revealed that SFI estimate there is a potential for its core brands of some 500 outlets, which would give SFI its long-term objective of a 20% share by value of the High Street Bars market. For 2001 the research company Mintel estimates the market to be worth £2.5bn, and it is predicting 10% growth this year, Hill said.
At the half year SFI operated 172 outlets, an increase of 28 since the year-end. Of those, 151 are high street bars, and in the second half, 18 more branded High Street outlets are due to be opened.
Hill, who will drop his executive role in April, revealed that he will be stepping down as chairman after the company's AGM in the autumn of 2003. He said the board expects to announce the appointments of a new finance director and retail director "in the near future".
