Fulham Shore revenues leap past pre-pandemic levels

Restaurant operator Fulham Shore said on Wednesday that its revenues increased to over £39m in its first half, compared to £36m in the pre-pandemic comparative period in 2019, despite only being able to trade without Covid-19 restrictions for 10 of the 26 weeks in the period.

The AIM-traded owner of the Franco Manca and Real Greek brands, which was holding its annual general meeting, said that growth was driven by the eight new restaurants it had opened since September 2019.

It also cited a continued improvement in customer numbers since the full lifting of lockdown restrictions in England on 19 July, and a “strong performance” across Franco Manco’s delivery operations.

Executive chairman David Page said that performance was enhanced by “strong” suburban trading in addition to the typical summer season, with revenues from delivery remaining at higher levels even after restrictions on dining-in were lifted.

“The Franco Manca brand continued to resonate well with customers during the period, reflected by the ongoing growth in popularity of the Franco Manca loyalty app, which has now been downloaded and used by over 255,000 customers,” David Page explained.

“The Real Greek enjoyed a fantastic summer serving record numbers of customers, with particularly good performances across sites located outside of London which feature large covered terraces.

“Bookings continue to be buoyant into autumn.”

The company said the period since restrictions were lifted in July saw a number of the group's restaurants around the UK breaking trading records on a regular basis.

Group revenues for the three full weeks to 26 September averaged 33% ahead of the same period in 2019, an improvement on the 27% reported in its previous trading statement achieved during the three weeks to 5 September.

During that time, Fulham Shore said its cost-of-sales and labour margins continued to remain stable, despite inflationary pressures.

During the first half, however, the group's 17 London West End and city centre office locations remained behind 2019 figures, but demonstrated a “gradual recovery”, with revenues improving to 3% behind the same three weeks in 2019 over the last three weeks of the period.

“Over the next 12 months we expect footfall in these office-centric sites to increase and to therefore return to trading in line with the group's average performance,” David Page said.

“Tourists from abroad have yet to return in any meaningful way, but when they do this should provide further impetus to these city centres and the West End restaurants.”

Page said that, with strong revenue growth in its first half ended 26 September compared to six months to September 2019, Fulham Shore was trading ahead of management expectations.

“This augurs well for the full-year performance, and our UK-wide expansion plans.”

Having started the financial year with net debt excluding IFRS16 lease liabilities of £3.6m, Fulham Shore said that as at 28 September, it had net cash of £5m.

“With strong trading and a healthy net cash position, the board believes that this is the right time to consider introducing a dividend policy for the group, reflecting the board's continued confidence in the outlook for Fulham Shore,” David Page said.

“Subject to no further UK government restrictions that impact the group's trade, the board will update on Fulham Shore's dividend policy within the group's interim results, which will be announced in December.”

At 0900 BST, shares in the Fulham Shore were up 3.56% at 18.9p.