Tragus Holdings, the casual dining group, which was acquired by the Blackstone Group, the US private equity firm for £267m in December, has reported a 9.5% increase in like-for-like sales for the six weeks to 7 January 2007.
The company, which operates the Café Rouge and Bella Italia chains, said like-for-like sales for the period in its Central London sites increased by 15.0%, while those outside London saw like-for-like sales grow by 8.3% compared to the equivalent period the year before.
Like-for-like sales in Bella Italia increased by 12.5% during the six weeks, and in Café Rouge by 7.6% over the same period.
Total sales across the group rose by 11.8%, while weekly sales records were broken in 56 of the company’s 163 sites during the six weeks.
Graham Turner, chief executive of Tragus, said: “We are extremely pleased with our success over the Christmas and New Year period. Our core brands are going from strength to strength and continue to benefit from the investment and operational initiatives we have undertaken. We look forward to working with our new owners, Blackstone, to take the group into its next stage of development.”
Tragus currently operates 163 sites in the UK, including 87 Café Rouge, 68 Bella Italia, and four Ortega, its Spanish tapas concept.
It also operates four brasseries under the brands Amalfi, Oriel and Abbaye.
