Filta Group Holdings PLC (LON:FLTA), which provides services to commercial kitchens, has said it delivered a much stronger performance in the second half of last year and is encouraged by its pipeline of new sales.
The fryer management specialist managed to slash its debt in 2020 by 42% to around £500,000 despite the restaurant trade being rocked by coronavirus lockdowns.
Cash and cash equivalents at the year-end totalled £4.2mln, up 45% from £2.9mln at the end of 2019.
The upturn in trading in the second half of 2020 came as an increasing number of customers reopened over the summer period. In the US, demand for Filta’s services came back quicker than initially expected but with stadia, corporate dining and universities - all major contributors in the past - still in lockdown, there remains some significant future upside to trading revenues, the company said.
In the UK, the re-opening of restaurants in the summer also led to a resurgence in demand from customers and although with the country currently back in lockdown, Filta said demand for its services has remained resilient “in the circumstances”, with many customers still operating food take-away and delivery, so requiring regular kitchen servicing.
The group said its pipeline of new sales “is certainly promising” with management encouraged by the pick-up in franchise enquiries in the second half of last year; franchise enquiries tend to pick-up in times of high unemployment so this trend could well continue in the current year.
“The business has worked hard to put itself in a much stronger position for when restrictions are eased across all our territories. Importantly, our cash position has improved and we have an encouraging sales pipeline. Despite the difficult circumstances, we have won new contracts, launched new services and sold new franchises, all of which gives us a stronger platform for growth,” said Jason Sayers, the chief executive officer of Filta Group in a statement.