Fulham Shore, the restaurant venture from ex-Clapham House Group chairman David Page, has reported a pre-tax loss of £74,399 in the six months to 29 September and said it continues to seek investment opportunities in the sector.
The headline operating loss for the company was £71,241 and net cash at 29 September was £1.3m. Meanwhile, the firm said that the first Franco Manca pizza concept opened under a new venture funded by Fulham Shore, which opened in November at London’s Tottenham Court Road, has “so far has been operating satisfactorily”.
In May, the company completed a placing of 14.5m ordinary shares of 1p each at 4p per share raising £580,000, which added to the near-£1m it had already raised.
Fulham Shore added: “The directors believe that there continue to be a number of potentially attractive investment opportunities within the restaurant and food service sectors in the UK. Given the directors’ collective experience in the restaurant and food service sectors, the directors believe they can take advantage of the opportunities which exist in these sectors and create a profitable and sustainable business.
“We continue to seek investment opportunities which have potential for expansion and significant capital growth, and look forward to the conclusion of the financial year with confidence.”
No dividends were paid in the period. The company said: “It remains the board’s policy that, subject to the availability of distributable reserves, dividends will be paid to shareholders when the directors believe it is appropriate and prudent to do so.”
For its full year to 31 March, Fulham Shore reported a pre-tax loss of £125,269 with headline operating loss of £124,777 and net cash of £784,070.
M&C reported last month that Franco Manca, the pizza chain led by Page, the former chief executive of Pizza Express, and Italian chef Giuseppe Mascoli, is to open a further six sites in London over the next 18 months and is exploring options to franchise the concept overseas.
