PizzaExpress reports UK & Ireland like-for-likes down 2.7% as group revenue falls to £442.1m in ‘challenging macroeconomic environment’: PizzaExpress has reported group revenue fell to £442,100,000 for the year ending 29 December 2024 compared with £454,566,000 the previous year. Of this, £404,242,000 came from the UK & Ireland (2023: £411,769,000) and £37,858,000 from international operations (2023: £42,797,000). Of the total revenue, £424,473,000 came from restaurant operations (2023: £435,886,000), £10,457,000 from merchandising (2023: £10,775,000), £5,068,000 from wholesale (2023: £5,818,000) and £2,302,000 from franchise income (2023: £2,087,000). Like-for-like sales were down 2.7% in the UK & Ireland and 6.0% internationally. Adjusted Ebitda was down to £49.4m (2023: £52.3m). UK & Ireland adjusted Ebitda fell to £46.6m compared with £50.8m the year before. Profit before tax and exceptional charges in 2024 was £4,371,000 (loss of £1,988,000 in 2023) after PizzaExpress took the decision to take a provision of £41,854,000 against the carrying value of the brand to reduce it to £421,705,000 (£463,559,000 in 2023), which was recognised as an exceptional charge in 2024 (£2,142,000 in 2023). At the end of the period, the group had a total of 462 restaurants (2023: 460) with 360 of these in the UK & Ireland (2022: 358). During 2024, six new company-owned restaurants were opened – two in the UK, and four in Hong Kong. The group closed one company-owned restaurants in the UK and Ireland and four in Hong Kong. In its franchise operation, the company opened one new restaurant in the UK and five new restaurants in our international market, across India, Singapore and Saudi Arabia. The group closed five franchise restaurants across Singapore, Macau, India, Kuwait and Indonesia. At the end of the period, the group operated 384 company-owned restaurants (2023: 383) and 78 franchise restaurants (2023: 77). During the period, PizzaExpress also debuted its new Pod concept. In his report accompanying the accounts, chief financial officer Colin Elliot stated: “During 2024, our primary market of the UK and Ireland continued to operate in a challenging macroeconomic environment. There has been continued consumer caution driven by economic uncertainty and the lasting impacts of the ‘cost of living crisis’, coupled with cost inflation across food, labour and central costs. In Hong Kong, 2024 has seen a challenging macro climate as the market continues to normalise following post­pandemic restrictions. Hong Kong continues to experience a significant net outflow of people, impacted by both higher than pre-pandemic outbound tourism and lower than pre-pandemic inbound tourism. However, the focus in Hong Kong has been on execution of a turnaround plan, including estate management central cost reduction and achieving lower food and labour costs. In the UAE, the level of tourism continues to be strong with an increase in international visitors compared with 2023, aiding footfall at key retail and hospitality venues. In 2024 we continued to execute our customer focused strategy, upweighting our brand, restaurant and food and drink appeal across all parts of the service journey; together with managing inflationary cost headwinds and optimising our operational model accordingly. We rolled out headsets across our restaurants and installed more than 100 automated coffee machines, improving communication, service and productivity. We are realising the mutual value of our key delivery aggregator partnerships to grow our total brand reach, as well as establishing new strategic partnerships to drive incremental sales. We continued to grow our loyalty members, from two million members in 2023, to over three million members by the end of 2024. We are continuing to invest in our existing UK & Ireland restaurant estate with a substantial refurbishment programme that uplifts the customer experience across our pizzerias. In 2024, a further 74 sites underwent refurbishment in the UK and Ireland, and this refurbishment programme continues into 2025. We opened two new restaurants at Birmingham ICC and Oxford Summertown, as well as launching a Pod concept in Southampton. We continue to pursue franchise opportunities in markets where we believe working with a local partner will enable the business to grow successfully. At the end of 2024 we had 78 Franchise sites including the recently opened London Gatwick airport. In early 2025 we have had new openings at Jeddah and Riyadh airports as well as plans for US expansion.” The accounts revealed that loyalty club members are sitting on £12,464,000 of benefits (2023: £11,303,000) and customers have £3,440,000 of gift card benefits outstanding (2023: £2,473,000). As of 29 December 2024, the group’s total net debt was £427.9m (2023: £431.0m). In April 2025, PizzaExpress agreed a refinancing deal with more than 97% of its existing bondholders. The company said the refinancing agreement followed a good opening quarter for the brand with like-for-like sales up 1.3% for the first two months, compared with last year. The company said it has received strong support to extend the maturity of its senior secured notes from July 2026 to September 2029. As part of the refinancing, there was £55m par debt paydown, reducing the group’s debt position to £280m. No dividend was paid (2023: nil).