Caffè Nero sees sales approach pre-Covid levels

In the coffee chain's results for the first half of the year to November 2021, the group said trading had been “robust” over the period, with sales rising to 82% of FY19 levels between December last year and January and seeing improvements since.

The group, which operates the Caffè Nero, Coffee#1, Aroma and Harris + Hoole brands, achieved sales of £135.7m in the first half of the year – an increase of 211% on the same period in 2020. EBIDTA was up on pre-Covid levels at £29.4m.

For the full year to end of May 2021, however, the group recorded a loss of £16.6m, after sales declined 36%, from £239.7m to £153.3m.

The group says there had been “a notable and encouraging increase” in several of its newly established channels during the period, namely delivery and its Coffee At Home business, with revenue of £3.4m and £1.3m achieved respectively. These new distribution channels are now on target to generate more than £10m of incremental revenue for the business in its current financial year, it says

“We’ve seen a very encouraging first half of our financial year. Our business showed great resilience and recovery," says Gerry Ford, Caffè Nero founder and group CEO.

“Further, even with the emergence of the Omicron variant, our sales have held up. We are now trading at 90% of pre-pandemic levels and we expect to see that improve further over the coming weeks and months.”

“There is no doubt the pandemic and government enforced lockdowns had a significant impact on our business. The figures from our FY21 accounts show just how damaging these limitations on our trading were,” Ford commented.

“We were in survival mode throughout the period. But a loss for that year of £16.6m was an improvement on the previous year, and there were signs of strengthening towards the end of the year.”