Revolution Bars set to serve up solid results

Premium bar operator Revolution Bars Group provided a trading update for the 26 weeks to 31 December on Thursday, saying trading results were expected to be in line with the board's expectations, reflecting a further period of growth in the number of sites, revenue and profit.

The London-listed company said like-for-like sales rose by 2.0% for the first half of the 2017 financial year.

Overall sales, including the contributions from new bars, were £66.6m for the same period, up 12.7% from £59.1m.

The group opened four new ‘Revolución de Cuba’ bars during the period, in Harrogate, Aberdeen, Reading and Glasgow.

It said it was currently on site at its fifth development in Southend-on-Sea, which is due to open in the second half.

The board said its interim results will be announced on 28 February.

“I am delighted to report another period of good progress for the group,” said chief executive Mark McQuater.

“Continued investment in the business with new site openings in Harrogate, Aberdeen, Reading and Glasgow have further expanded our geographic footprint.”

McQuater said the company had a strong festive trading period across its existing estate, and all of the new sites were open for Christmas and New Year where initial trading was encouraging, with group sales increasing 16.2% over the five week trading period.

“We continue to develop our pipeline and are currently on site at our fifth development in FY17 which will take the estate to 67 sites.

“We remain positive for the future prospects of the group.”