Carluccio's celebrates 'record year' as profit and new openings exceed targets

27-Mar-2013 - Last updated on 29-Aug-2024 at 12:11 GMT

Staff at Carluccio's celebrate a 'record year' for the group which saw profit rise 15 per cent in the last financial year

Italian restaurant group Carluccio's is celebrating a 'record year' after its annual results brought pre-tax profits of £6.8m, a 15 per cent rise on the previous year.

The company, bought by Dubai-based investment group Landmark in 2011, also exceeded its target of opening 10 restaurants a year by opening 11 of them, four of which were acquired from the Paramount Restaurants estate, in 2012.

In the 52 weeks to 23 September 2012, turnover rose 13.7 per cent to £96m and EBITDA increased 21.7 per cent to £13m, leading Carluccio's chief executive Simon Kossoff to hail it as a 'record' for the group.

“In a year characterised by a continuing difficult economic background and the disruption of the Olympics and The Queen’s Jubilee, Carluccio’s has continued to perform strongly," he said. "We have delivered excellent turnover growth and exceeded our target of opening 10 UK stores per annum."

Expansion

Kossoff said trade had continued to be strong for the group with Christmas trade up 21 per cent on the previous year.

Since year-end, five further sites have opened in Worcester, Westfield London, Dorchester, Peterborough and Watford, taking the total number of UK stores to 71.

Kossoff said despite the company ramping up international expansion with eight now operating under franchise in Ireland, Dubai, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey, the UK was still 'at the heart' of development plans with the previously predicted saturation point of 120 sites now increasing.

He said: "We expect to be operating 76 UK stores by our year-end in a market, which we estimate has a potential of at least 150. The international opportunity for our brand continues to prove exciting. We expect to develop further in all our existing markets this year and to add new territories as we go forward.”

Alongside new restaurant openings, the year saw Carluccio's invest heavily in staff with the opening of its in-house training academy in Islington.

Find out about the latest jobs with Carluccio's here.