Roadchef, the UK’s third largest motorway services provider, saw losses widen in the 12 months to 3 January 2012, a period in which it completed the acquisition of the First Motorways business and continued to upgrade it estate.
The 20-strong group, which earlier this year secured a new c£30m funding package, reported a pre-tax loss of £11.4m for the year, up from £2.2m in 2010. Turnover remained relatively flat at £203.5m up from £202.2m, while operating profit declined from £6.8m to £3.3m.
The company, which is led by Simon Turl, said that amenity building sales grew 4% on a like-for-like basis during the year, against a decline of 2.3% in 2010. It said it was satisfied with the results for the year.
Amenity building transactions, which is the actual number of transactions recorded in the main building in both retail and catering outlets, stood at 20.9 million, up from 19.8 million.
Spend per transactions fell slightly over the year from £4.62 to £4.55, which the group said was down to the switch from Wimpy to McDonald’s at a number of its sites. This switch has resulted in increased sales, but a lower spend per transaction.
The company replaced Wimpy with McDonald’s at five of its sites during the year, which resulted in sales growth of up to 350%. It said it continued to invest in new seating areas and revitalising the Costa units at the same five sites.
Its £10.5m development programme will continue throughout 2012, with plans to develop a further six sites this year.
During the year, it sold its hotel on its Winchester site.
In accounts filed at Companies House, the company said: “Management believe that there are about 60 million visits to Roadchef’s sites in a year and 36% of these visits do not result in the visitor being converted to a customer.
“Roadchef’s objective is to increase the conversion rate and the amount each customer spends. Recent investment in the catering offer at key sites has proven to reduce the instance of non-conversion by between 10-15%.”
The group initially upgraded its Strensham site in the southbound M5, which involved a complete overhaul of its offer. This led to a 40% growth in transactions and a 20% increase in catering sales year on year.
