Hakkasan Group posts pre-tax losses of $145m

Its financial results show a decrease of 7% in overall turnover across the company’s global estate before tax.

In the UK, revenue fell by 11%. This has been attributed to declining sales at HKK, which the group closed in October having taken its poor performance into account.

Launched in 2012, the well-regarded restaurant was an outlet for executive head chef Tong Chee Hwee to experiment and evolve through a series of seasonal tasting menus. 

The group said at the time that it had closed the venue in order to focus on its global expansion, although the recently released financial results suggest that the closure was necessary for the business to avoid further losses.  

Globally, the group posted an overall turnover of $313.6m in 2017, down from $338.9m in 2016.

Hakkasan is owned by Dubai-based Alliance International Investment, part of Abu Dhabi’s Mudabala Investment co.

It operates 60 sites across North America, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Africa, including 11 eponymous restaurants

According to a report from Bloomberg earlier this year, the group’s owner was in talks to sell the business, which includes the eponymous Cantonese restaurant brand as well as Yauatcha teahouses and a variety of nightclubs and bars worldwide.

It has attracted interest from Spanish nightclub operator Pacha Group and travel investment firm Certares, according to Bloomberg sources “with knowledge of the matter”.

A planned $1bn merger of Hakkasan with SBE Entertainment group, which owns London’s Mondrian hotel, fell through earlier this year.