Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
Hospitality business Loungers reported a surge in first-half profit as the reopening of the economy led to recovery in sales and margin.
For the 24 weeks ended 3 October 2021, pre-tax profit was £12.8 million, up from £117,000 year-on-year as revenue increased 91.4% to £102.4 million.
'The entire estate re-opened on 17 May once Government Covid-related restrictions on indoor trading were lifted,' the company said.
'As anticipated, immediately on re-opening we saw a return to growth, in contrast to 2020 when it took two to three weeks for the sites to return to a normal level of sales.'
The company said it anticipated 25 new site openings during the financial year ending 17 April 2022.
Headline like-for-like sales grew 28% in the 28 weeks to 28 November.
'Whilst mindful of the news of the Omicron variant, we are optimistic looking ahead to trading over the Christmas period and beyond.'
'The Lounge business is very balanced seasonally, whilst Christmas trading is more important for Cosy Club and we are encouraged by the level of bookings.'