D&D London, the restaurant operator behind Pont de la Tour and the Coq d’Argent in London, has suffered a 19% drop in underlying profit to £6.5m.
Turnover also dropped by 5% at D&D to £68.2m for the year to the end of March.
Despite this the group has its sights on rolling out nine new eateries – including three in Birmingham and three in the City of London – by 2011.
Des Gunewardena, chief executive, told the Financial Times this morning: “There will be booms and recessions but I think the next 15-20 years will be a good place [for restaurateurs] to be in.
“The proof is in the pudding. We have opened restaurants in a recession before and these restaurants are still trading strong.”
In addition to Birmingham and London, D&D has formed a joint venture with a Malaysian property developer to open restaurants in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It is also in talks to secure a site to build a boutique hotel in the City of London.
Last year, D&D appointed Goldman Sachs to sell Sir Terence Conran’s 51% stake as well as HBOS’s 18% holding in the business.
Gunewardena, who along with management owns the remaining 31% stake, told the FT there were no immediate plans to revive the sale.
