Wagamama saw UK like-for-like sales (lfls) grow 12% in its second quarter - the 12 weeks to 11 November.
The group, which was acquired by The Restaurant Group at the end of last year, outperformed the UK market by 11.3% in Q2, making it a total of 239 weeks of trading ahead of the competition.
Its US restaurants saw 7% lfls growth in Q2, while turnover in the international franchised business was up 14.3%. Total turnover was up 15.4% to £81.5m and adjusted EBITDA grew 18.7% to £13.2m.
The group opened one new UK restaurant – Gloucester Quays – in Q2 with one new franchised restaurant opened in Spain and two in UAE. A total of 10 refurbishments were carried out across the estate.
On an H1 basis, lfls grew 10% in the UK with total turnover up 13.7% to £178.9m and EBITDA growing 9.9% to £25.9m.
At 11 November, the group had an estate of 198 restaurants, including 134 UK sites. The company spent £17.2m on capital expenditure in Q2, including £7.8m on new sites, £5.2m on refurbishment and £3.6m on maintenance.
Emma Woods, who took over as chief executive following the TRG deal, said: “We want wagamama to be special, both the bowl and the soul, and so have continued to invest in our amazing teams, our vegan food and our customer service this quarter. As a result, we have sustained our outperformance of the UK market.
“The business is well prepared for, and excited about the next stage of its development, with The Restaurant Group (TRG) as our new owners.
As the ownership baton gets handed on, I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to Jane Holbrook, Duke Street and Hutton Collins for their committed leadership and ownership approach to wagamama.”
TRG completed the acquisition of the business on Christmas Eve, with Wagamama Allan Leighton joining the TRG board as a non-executive. At the time, chairman Debbie Hewitt said: “We’d like to thank all shareholders for their engagement in this process and we look forward to delivering the benefits of the acquisition. We welcome all Wagamama colleagues and thank them and all of our colleagues at the Restaurant Group for their continued focus on our customers during this busy period.
“We are delighted to welcome Allan to our Board. He brings significant knowledge of the sector, and of the Wagamama team and a wealth of experience in growing consumer businesses.”
Precis
Wagamama saw UK like-for-like sales (lfls) grow 12% in its second quarter - the 12 weeks to 11 November. The group, which was acquired by The Restaurant Group at the end of last year, outperformed the UK market by 11.3% in Q2, making it a total of 239 weeks of trading ahead of the competition. Its US restaurants saw 7% lfls growth in Q2, while turnover in the international franchised business was up 14.3%. Total turnover was up 15.4% to £81.5m and adjusted EBITDA grew 18.7% to £13.2m. The group opened one new UK restaurant – Gloucester Quays – in Q2 with one new franchised restaurant opened in Spain and two in UAE. A total of 10 refurbishments were carried out across the estate. On an H1 basis, lfls grew 10% in the UK with total turnover up 13.7% to £178.9m and EBITDA growing 9.9% to £25.9m. At 11 November, the group had an estate of 198 restaurants, including 134 UK sites. The company spent £17.2m on capital expenditure in Q2, including £7.8m on new sites, £5.2m on refurbishment and £3.6m on maintenance.
