Revolution Bars warns on profits, shares slide

Revolution Bars issued a profit warning on Wednesday despite strong trading over the festive period, pinning the blame on several factors, including train strikes and the expense of Christmas.

The bar operator said that despite strong Christmas trading and the improving like-for-like trend throughout the first half, January has started "softly" as guests recover from the expense of Christmas.

It pointed to the fact that its younger customers continue to be hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis, the recently-announced continuation of Aslef strikes and the increase in the national minimum wage.

As a result, the group said it has had to reconsider previous assumptions of LFL growth in the second half of the financial year.

"Whilst the business continues to manage costs tightly, the significantly above inflation increases in both business rates and payroll costs set by the government are a significant additional burden and barrier to growth," it said.

"As a result, the board now expects IAS 17 EBITDA to be circa £3-3.5m."

Revolution reported in an update earlier this month that group LFL sales rose 9% in the four weeks from 4 December to 31 December - the best festive period since 2019.

At 0915 GMT, the shares were down 22% at 3.02p.