Good morning,
Just one announcement caught my eye this a.m, 6 months results from restaurant group Richoux (LON:RIC).
Richoux (LON:RIC)
http://www.investegate.co.uk/richoux-group-plc--ri...
Turnover increased 14.4% to £6.68 million (2013: £5.84 million)
Adjusted* EBITDA decreased 2.7% to £0.78 million (2013: £0.81 million)
§ Profit after tax of £0.16 million (2013: £0.45 million)
§ Currently seventeen restaurants trading.
§ One new Dean's Diner opened, one exchanged and three in legals.
§ One new Richoux in legals.
§ Disposal of two Villagio restaurants.
§ Cash of £3.13 million at period end (2013: £4.07 million).
The fall in profit is disappointing, especially as it came from an increased revenue base. The company runs four chains: Richoux (patisserie), Dean's Diner (American-style diner), Villagio (Italian) and Zippers (bar & grill).
In the past, Richoux and Dean's Diner have been the best performers That looks to have continued. For the first six months, Dean's Diner produced a segment profit of £0.24m on sales of £1.8m. Villagio did £0.15m profit on £2.2m of revenues. Zippers LOST £26k on £0.5m of turnover and Richoux made a profit of £0.42m on £2.2m of sales.
Naturally, the group is focusing future growth on Dean's Diner and Richoux and it is good to see plans taking shape.
Performance from the eponymous Richoux chain could have been even better but unfortunately:
usual strong performance of the Richoux restaurants has been affected by scaffolding at the flagship Piccadilly restaurant where turnover is down 14.8% on the comparable period last year.
Shares down this morning to a new low. Seems about right as Zippers and Villagio are clearly not working. I often wonder what the long-term future of this business looks like. Clearly the Richoux stores have value and the Dean's Diner roll-out looks worth investing in.
AIM Prospector featured the company in the April edition here:
http://issuu.com/aimprospector/docs/issuu_magazine...
likely being too positive at the then share price.
However, another Richoux and three more Dean's Diners would have a very positive effect on profits if they traded like the others.
Have a great day,
David O'Hara
Editor, AIM Prospector
