|
|
|
Fri 4th Oct 2024 - JD Wetherspoon revenue passes £2bn for first time, current lfl sales up 4.9% |
|
|
JD Wetherspoon revenue passes £2bn for first time, current lfl sales up 4.9%: JD Wetherspoon’s revenue passed £2bn for first time in the year to 28 July 2024. The company’s turnover for the year was up 5.7% from £1,925.0m to £2,035.5m, while like-for-like (lfl) sales were up 7.6%. Its pre-tax profit before separately disclosed items rose 73.5% from £46.2m in 2023 to £79.3m, while operating profit was up 30.2% from £107.1m to £139.5m, with a full year dividend of 12p per share (2023: 0.0p). Post year-end, in the nine weeks to 29 September 2024, lfl sales were up 4.9%. “The recovery from the pandemic continued in FY24,” the company said. “In the first full post-lockdown financial year (FY22), lfl sales declined by 4.7% compared to the pre-pandemic FY19. Lfl sales, on the same basis, increased to 7.4% in FY23 and to 16.0% in FY24. Total sales in FY24, which were £2,036m, have increased by £217m compared to FY19, although the number of pubs decreased from 879 at the FY19 year-end to 800 at FY24. Profits before tax and separately disclosed items, like sales, have also continued to make progress, improving from a loss of £30m in FY22 to a profit before tax of £43m in FY23 and to £74m in FY24. Since 2010, the company has invested £458m in acquiring the freehold reversions of pubs where it was previously the tenant. 72% of pubs are now freehold, an increase from 41% in 2010. As previously stated, our best estimate is that the company has potential for about 1,000 pubs in the UK. In addition to new openings, there is potential to expand existing successful pubs, by adding gardens or, for example, by expanding existing customer areas into adjacent buildings. As previously indicated, the company is also increasing investment in new staff rooms, changing rooms, glass racks above bars (to cater for increased usage of brewers ‘branded glasses) and air conditioning. Total sales in FY24 were £2,036m, an increase of 5.7%, compared to FY23. Lfl sales, compared to FY23, increased by 7.6%. Lfl bar sales increased by 8.9%, food sales by 5.6%, slot/fruit machine sales by 10.8% and hotel-room sales by 2.7%. Lfl sales were stronger than total sales due to a small number of pub disposals and lease terminations. In the period, the company sold 18 pubs and terminated the lease of an additional nine pubs. This gave rise to a cash inflow of £8.9m. There was an exceptional loss on disposal of approximately £13.4m, recognised in the income statement, relating to these pubs.” In the period, Wetherspoon awarded £49.0m of bonuses and free shares to employees, of which 96.5% was paid to staff below board level and 86.3% was paid to staff working in our pubs. Approximately 24,500 of its 42,300 employees are shareholders in the company. The average length of service of a pub manager increased to 14.9 years, and a kitchen manager to 10.9 years. There are 26 employees who have worked for the company for more than 30 years, 662 for more than 20 years, 4,056 for more than 10 years and 11,444 for more than five years.The company opened two pubs in the year, the Star Light at Heathrow airport and The Captain Flinders, close to Euston Station in London, and said further franchise proposals are under consideration. Debt, excluding IFRS-16 lease debt, was £660.0m at the period end (30 July 2023: £641.9m). On an IFRS-16 basis, which includes notional debt from leases, debt increased from £1.06bn to £1.07bn at the end of FY24. Debt levels, excluding IFRS-16 lease debt, have decreased from £804.5m to £660.0m since January 2020, just before the first lockdown. On an IFRS-16 basis, debt decreased from £1.45bn to £1.07bn during this period. The company has total available finance facilities of £938.0m. On 6 June 2024, the company signed a new four-year £840.0m banking agreement on attractive terms. “The company currently anticipates a reasonable outcome for the current financial year, subject to our future sales performance,” it added.
Premium Club members to receive updated segmented Multi-Site Database today, videos from Talent & Training Conference to be sent on Friday, 18 October: Premium Club members are to receive the updated Multi-Site Database today (Friday, 4 October). The next Propel Multi-Site Database provides details of 3,246 multi-site operators and is now searchable in seven main segments. The database features 958 (30%) operators from the casual dining sector, 782 (24%) pub and bar operators, 544 (17%) cafe bakery operators, 442 (14%) quick service restaurant operators, 266 (8%) hotel operators, 200 (6%) experiential leisure operators and 54 (2%) fine dining operators. The database is updated each month, and this edition includes 16 new companies. Premium Club members will also be sent the videos from this week’s Talent & Training Conference on Friday, 18 October, at 9am. Members will be able to unlock insights from speakers including Kathryn York, chief people officer at KFC UK and Ireland, and Ceri Gott, chief growth and culture officer at Hawksmoor. Premium Club members also receive access to five additional databases: the New Openings Database, the Turnover & Profits Blue Book, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisor Database, the UK Food and Beverage Franchisee Database and the Who's Who of UK Hospitality. All Premium Clubs members will be offered a 20% discount on tickets to Propel paid-for events including Restaurant Marketer and Innovator (two days in January 2025) and Excellence in Pub Retail (May 2025). Operators that are Premium Club members are also able to send up to four members of staff to each of our four Multi-Club Conferences for free. Premium Club members receive their daily Propel Info newsletter 11 hours earlier than standard subscribers, at 7pm the evening before. They also receive videos of presentations at eight Propel conference events two weeks after they are held. This represents around 100 videos of industry insight over the course of the year. Premium Club members will be sent a dedicated monthly newsletter that will highlight key updates in the sector and direct subscribers to all the vital content their membership offers. Premium Club members also receive exclusive opinion columns every Friday at 5pm, which include the thoughts of Propel group editor Mark Wingett and a host of industry leaders from across the sector. A Premium Club subscription costs an annual sum of £495 plus VAT for operators and £595 plus VAT for suppliers. Companies can now have an unlimited number of people receive access to Premium Club for a year for £995 plus VAT – whether they are an operator or supplier. Email kai.kirkman@propelinfo.com today to sign up.
Costa franchisee looking at opening new stores for first time since covid following turnover and Ebitda boost: Altrincham-based Costa franchisee Sim Trava has said it is looking at opening new stores for first time since covid following a turnover and Ebitda boost in the year to 31 December 2023. The company’s turnover grew 11.2% from £23,322,311 in 2022 to £25,931,509 while its Ebitda grew 34.8% from £1,424,000 to £1,919,000. Although the company swung back to an operating profit of £67,225 after making a loss of £159,477 in 2022, its pre-tax loss widened from £689,306 to £868,120. Director Simon Vardy said the increases in turnover, Ebitda and operating profit were “achieved by continued efforts to integrate the stores acquired from Costa Coffee in 2021/22 and a focus on operational excellence in our original store base”. He added: “In addition, we operate nine stores through an associated company, Sim Trava (North East), which have also shown a step change in turnover and profitability. The continued close working relationship with our franchisor, Costa Coffee, has helped us implement the significant improvements in turnover and profitability achieved in 2023. This has been coupled with a continued focus on removing waste from business operations at all levels resulting in our labour percentage reducing by over 5% from 2021 and over 2% from 2022. We reviewed pricing levels in all of our stores and adjusted them appropriately to bring us closer to our main competitors pricing levels, helping our turnover and profit percentage. There were some strong headwinds in 2023 that limited our ability to increase our profitability further. These were mainly energy (electricity) costs, where we were tied in to a contract taken at the peak of the market. A new agreement put in place in April 2024 will bring our electricity costs back towards historical % levels. We also had increases in nearly all areas of our business such as the increase to the national minimum wage, coffee, milk, packaging and nearly all food items. Stronger ordering processes and stock control systems were put in place to minimise the impact of these increases, meaning that despite the impact we still managed to increase our % operating profit on the prior year. We continue to look at operational improvements to improve profitability and increase sales and entered 2024 in a positive position, to improve the company’s financial performance for the third year running. We continue to look at opportunities for organic and acquisitions growth. We are looking at all options to expand or relocate existing stores at the end of leases and are again, for the first time since before covid, looking at opening stores in new locations.” Dividends of £385,000 were paid (2022: £255,000).
KFC, Costa and Pizza Hut franchisee profit grows by nearly £2m as turnover reaches almost £94m: Middlesex-based KFC, Costa and Pizza Hut franchisee SME Group saw its profit grow by nearly £2m in the year to 31 March 2024 as its turnover reached almost £94m. The group, which operates more than 120 restaurants, gyms and hotels and employs more than 2,000 people, saw a pre-tax profit of £496,692 in 2023 turn into a profit of £2,338,308. Its turnover grew from £88,053,260 in 2023 to £93,936,963. Of this, £90,077,085 came from restaurants (2023: £84,788,468) and £3,859,878 from hotels (2023: £3,264,792). Dividends of £1,664,989 were paid (2023: nil). Net assets stood at £77,020,123 at the year-end (2023: £78,657,546). “The development strategy is to continue the implementation of several operational initiatives to drive like for like sales and enhance margins,” director Aly Esmail said. “The key areas of continued operational focus include the achievement of high standards of customer service and investment in the training and development of our outlet managers and staff. The gross profit of the group for the period under review was £58,171,200 (2023: £51,697,863), producing a satisfactory gross profit margin of 62% (2023:59%) on a turnover of £93,936,963 (2023: £88,053,260). The directors aim to continue with the management policies which has resulted in the group's steady growth in recent years. The outlook for 2025 is reasonably encouraging with the directors being optimistic that the current performance can be maintained.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
