The Ivy revamp takes bite out of Caprice Holdings profits: The closure of The Ivy for an overhaul before its 100th anniversary has taken a bite out of the 2015 profits at Caprice Holdings. Although sales at the restaurant group, owned by Richard Caring, grew by 1.8% to £48.7m, underlying earnings fell by 8.3% to £8.8m on the back of The Ivy’s four-month revamp and an increase in rents. The sales lost from the closure of The Ivy were more than offset by the first full year of trading for Daphne’s after a refurbishment in 2014 and a strong debut for its Sexy Fish restaurant in October 2015. Accounts about to be filed at Companies House showed operating profits fell from £6.8m to £1.7m on the back of one-off costs of £4m incurred in the opening of Sexy Fish and the reopening of The Ivy. Pre-tax profit declined from £7.1m to £1.9m. Exceptional items included charitable donations of £772,000 made to Child Bereavement UK from the proceeds of the sale of memorabilia from The Ivy. A spokesman for Caprice Holdings told The Times that 2015 had been “a positive year, with strong growth at both Scott’s and 34, with customers spending more on wine and private dining”.

 

Comptoir Group reports ‘strong’ trading performance: Comptoir Group, which operates the Comptoir Libanais and Shawa brands as well as the Levant and Kenza restaurants, had reported a “strong” trading performance in the second half of 2016. The company stated: “The directors are pleased to report trading for the 52 weeks to 31 December 2016 was in line with market expectations. The company had a strong trading performance during the second half of 2016, culminating in a busy December. The Company was pleased to also achieve its objective of opening six new Comptoir Libanais sites in the second half of the year, ahead of its original expectations at initial public offering in June 2016. In addition to these new Comptoir Libanais openings, as announced on 14 December 2016, the company acquired three Yalla Yalla branded restaurants. The company ended the year with 24 restaurants.”

 

Conviviality reports surge in sales and Ebitda in first half: Conviviality, the wholesaler and distributor of alcohol and impulse, serving customers through its franchised retail outlets and through hospitality and food service, has reported sales grew 211% to £782.5m for the 26 weeks to 30 October 2016. Adjusted Ebitda was up 252% to £22.9m (first half FY16: £6.5m). Adjusted profit before tax increased 295% to £15.4m (first half FY16: £3.9m). It reported a 6.1% increase in group sales in November and December and a 2.1% rise in retail like-for-like sales for the six weeks ended 1 January 2017. The company completed the acquisition of Bibendum PLB Group and said the successful integration of its strategic acquisitions was ahead of plan and it was on track to deliver stated synergies of £6m in FY17. The number of outlets served in the period increased 1.5% and sales per outlet grew 3.8%. Chief executive Diana Hunter said: “These strong results demonstrate our competitive advantage, the broad customer base we have developed and the robust nature of Conviviality as the UK’s leading drinks wholesaler, distributor and solution provider to our Customers. We have successfully restructured to create three business units Conviviality Direct, Conviviality Retail and Conviviality Trading, each providing our customers and franchisees with unrivalled range, expert service and advice to meet their customer needs whilst providing our suppliers with unmatched access to routes to market across both the on and off trade. The recent acquisitions have resulted in Conviviality being well positioned in its market with a resilient business model that provides unique positioning for its suppliers and customers. We are also pleased to report that the group continues to trade in line with expectations for the full year.”