Loungers delivers 'record year' of sales

Bar and restaurant chain operator Loungers said on Tuesday that it had delivered a "record year" in terms of sales, profits and site openings.

Loungers said revenues increased 24.7% to £353.48m for the 53 weeks ended 21 April, leading to a 25.9% jump in adjusted underlying earnings to £59.59m and a 37.7% surge in operating profits to £20.31m.

The London-listed group also said pre-tax profits were 56% higher at £11.44m and diluted earnings per share rose 30.8% to 8.5p. Operating profit margins were up 50 basis points at 5.7%.

Loungers stated it had opened a record 36 new sites during the year, seven more than it had in the prior year.

Looking forward, Loungers said it was "very positive" about the outlook for its brands, noting that sales were up 5.0% on a like-for-like basis over the 11 weeks since the end of FY24.

Chief executive Nick Collins said: "This has been another year of outstanding strategic, operational and financial progress for Loungers. Our consistent and market-leading like-for-like sales growth coupled with our improving margins are allowing us to achieve record levels of profits to reinvest in our ambitious roll-out programme.

"The improving macroeconomic environment, with falling interest rates and declining inflation, adds to our confidence in Loungers' trading prospects for the coming year. In the longer term, we continue to believe that 665 sites is a conservative target."

As of 0920 BST, Loungers shares were up 0.70% at 286.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com