Tasty reports first half loss following impairment costs

Tasty, a UK restaurant operator, reported on Tuesday a loss in the first half due to impairment costs for five of its sites.

The firm’s revenue for the period ended 3 July 2016 rose by 28% to £21.8m. Operating profit before pre-opening costs increased 14% to £1.9m. The company however incurred a pre-tax loss of £2.3m after taking into account impairment charges of £3.6m for five of its sites.

Despite the impairment charges the board said it feels the performance across all other sites are in line with expectations and that the firm’s cost savings are offsetting pressures on direct input costs.

Four new sites have been opened during the period and a further three sites have opened since. The group now trades from 55 restaurants which include seven of Dim t and 48 of Wildwoods and Wildwood Kitchens sites.

The firm has undergone a total capital expenditure of £5m on opening the new sites.

Net cash inflow for the period was £334,000.

The group plans to continue expanding its operations and are taking steps to improve profitability at all its sites.

Basic earnings per share fell from 1.98p in 2015 to a loss of 4.95p. Share price fell 4.89% at 175p at 1033 BST on Tuesday.