Wagamama, the Duke Street Capital-backed, David Campbell-led group, saw like-for-like sales across its UK estate climb 9% in the 12 weeks to 29 January 2017, with turnover increasing 15.7% to £64.2m.
Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter climbed 11.4% to £11.7m. During the period it opened one new UK site in Soho’s Dean Street and its first location in New York, with a second due to come on line later this summer in the East Village.
The company reported its best ever UK sales week, with turnover of £6.2m in the week ending 1 January 2017. It said that 33 weekly sales records were achieved by 31 sites across the Christmas period, with total UK like-for-like sales up 9.4% over the Christmas period.
It said that average UK unit sales now stood at £41,800 per week compared to £38,000-a-week for the comparable quarter a year ago and £34,100 two years ago, a sales increase of 22.6% in two years.
The company said delivery was producing an “overall positive influence on results”, with c50% cannibalisation of existing sales.
In the US, it said that sales in across its three sites in Boston, Massachusetts, climbed 11.8% in like-for-like terms during the quarter – another site is planned for the Seaport area of the city later this year.
For the first nine months of the group’s current financial year turnover increased 15.7% to £202.2m helped by continued expansion of its restaurants in the UK and US (with eight new openings in the year to date) and 9.2% UK like-for-like sales growth.
Adjusted EBITDA increased by 15.6% in year-to-date to £34.8m.
Turnover across the group’s international franchised business increased 46.2% to £1.9m in YTD Q3 2016/17 from £1.3 million in YTD Q3 2015/16.
During the period it opened restaurants in Ayia Napa, Gibraltar, Rotterdam, Istanbul, Jeddah. Auckland and Dundonald (Belfast).
