Filta Group sees increasing levels of demand

Fryer management and commercial kitchen services company Filta Group said on Wednesday that it was still experiencing increasing levels of demand in all of its territories.

The AIM-traded firm, which was holding its annual general meeting, said there was a “clear link” between that performance and the success of Covid-19 vaccine rollouts and the lifting of lockdown restrictions.

It said that in the United States, there had been a “faster than anticipated” reopening of the hospitality and leisure sectors, with strong growth during the first part of the year and expectations for further growth as Filta's larger customers, particularly sports stadia and universities, opened up in the third quarter.

“Although the reopening of the sector has been more cautious in the UK than in the US, there is some momentum building, albeit that full reopening is now to be held back for a further month until later in July,” the board said in its statement.

“However, as previously reported, the company has benefitted from its focus on supermarkets and fast food chains and, as such, we believe that the recovery of UK revenue streams will not be impacted by the delay to reopening.

“We will continue to monitor developments in the UK going forward.”

Filta said operations in Europe were still lagging both the US and the UK in terms of both the vaccine delivery and the reopening of business.

“The company has, nonetheless, continued to develop new business opportunities and believes that as widespread vaccination is achieved, businesses will reopen and the hard work that has been put in will result in more signings of new franchisees.”

At 1347 BST, shares in Filta Group Holdings were down 6.15% at 168p.