Sun 15th May 2016 - Deltic Group reports 16.8% rise in Ebitda to £13.4m Deltic Group reports 16.8% rise in Ebitda to £13.4m: Deltic Group, the UK’s largest operator of premium late night bars and clubs with 58 venues, has reported Ebitda grew 16.8% to £13.4m in the year to 27 February 2016. Turnover was up 8% to £101m and profit before tax grew to £4.3m (2015: £3.7m). The company made a £3m investment in new Unit 7 club in Basildon, the largest investment outside London in 10 years and part of a £9m investment in refurbishment of sites in the year. New banking facilities have been negotiated, including a £10m term loan and £5m revolving credit facility. The company reported pre-booked sales rose by 175% across the estate in the financial period. As of the end of 2015, over half of the estate had undergone major refurbishments, with all venues refreshed through investment in new fixtures and fittings. Deltic now achieves 6.9 million visits a year to its 58 clubs and bars. The company reported it is capturing earlier evening trade through successfully transforming some of the eight former Chicago Rock Café sites acquired in November 2014 into its Bar & Beyond brand. These operate seven days a week and provide a street food offering starting at 5pm. Bar & Beyond has been opened in Chelmsford and Stevenage and further openings are planned for later this year. The company stated: “The late night sector has faced a number of challenges historically. However, Deltic believes that a major factor in the performance of the sector is the under-invested nature of late night properties and therefore a key facet of the business’s future improved performance will arise from re-investment in the estate. Deltic is ideally positioned to exploit this opportunity. In addition, Deltic has embraced the opportunities offered by engaging with its customers via social media including its 1.2 million followers on Facebook. The group’s trading performance continues to improve and there will be further improvements following the ongoing refurbishment programme. In 2016 the business opens Pryzm Birmingham as a new site and plan further investments in Nottingham, Bournemouth and Colchester.” Deltic Group’s chief executive Peter Marks said: “It is very heartening to report these excellent results which reflect the hard work, capital investment and imagination of everyone at Deltic. We now have the ideal platform to be the dominant late night player in each of our 58 clubs and bars. Our ability to respond to customer trends, backed by our financial firepower, gives me confidence in Deltic Group making further progress over the coming year.”