PizzaExpress owner Gondola delivers sales rise
Takeover target Gondola Holdings said more restaurant openings were on the menu on Thursday after it posted a 4.1 percent rise in annual like for like sales.
PizzaExpress owner Gondola, which media reports say is close to recommending a bid from private equity group Cinven, said like for like sales in the year to July 2 rose 4.1 percent to 360.5 million pounds, with a 7.1 percent gain seen in the 11 weeks to September 17.
The recent sales growth was partly skewed however, after bombings in London last year put off the capital's diners.
"Our strong performance reflects the Group's focus on our 'restaurant basics strategy'," Chairman David Ross said in a statement.
"At the same time, effective management of our cost base has enabled us to maintain profit margins in the face of challenging industry wide cost pressures," he added.
Pizza and pasta specialist Gondola, which also owns the ASK and Zizzi restaurant chains, said earnings per share climbed 5.3 percent to 24.9 pence, adding it was raising its targets for new store openings to 25 to 30 stores.
"We've got a pretty healthy pipeline. Last year the openings were a bit back end weighted, we expect the opening programme to be much more even this year," Chief Finance Officer Chris Heath told Reuters.
"We are looking to expand all over the UK and Ireland."
Analysts said the results were as expected.
"Results were in line with what we were going for, strong like for like sales performance as expected and good to see them maintaining margins." said Investec analyst Joseph Thomas.
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