Tasty lifts profits 20% and eyes acceleration in 2016

Tasty, operator of the chain of Wildwood and Dim T restaurant chains, served up an appetising set of final results, with both sales and profits up 20%.

The AIM-listed company said current trading since the year end has been "broadly in line with expectations", which represents encouraging stability in the choppy seas of the eating-out sector where recent data found sales were flat in February and that the industry is expecting a tougher year ahead.

After opening 12 new Wildwood and Wildwood Kitchen restaurants and one new Dim T in the year, Tasty has opened two new restaurants since the year end to take its total to 50 and has two more sites under construction as it plans to accelerate its rate of development in the medium term.

Openings in the coming 12 months will expand the UK geographical footprint of the group," said chairman Keith Lassman.

For the previous 12 months of 2015, revenues swelled to £35.8m from £29.7m, while improving profit margins helped lift operating profits before individual restaurant pre-opening costs 28% to £3.95m.

Profit before tax gained 20% to £3.1m and earnings per share almost 20% to 4.64p..

Tasty also announced the appointment of a new finance director in the shape of Timothy Cundy, hitherto the company's head of finance and before that a director of Peggy's Tea Company.