Tortilla Mexican Grill PLC (AIM:MEX) said revenues and profits for 2021 were “materially” higher than expectations, despite the emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus (COVID-19), as customer demand continued to grow.
The Mexican restaurants operator, which floated on London’s AIM market in October, said trading in the current year continues to be “very positive” and it is confident results for financial year 2022 will meet its expectations, with reduced financial assistance from the government offset by fewer pandemic-related trading restrictions.
"We are delighted to have maintained the very strong trading momentum, outlined at the time of our IPO, to achieve an excellent full year performance. This was supported by the growing appeal of our proposition and the continued expansion of the Tortilla brand,” said chief executive Richard Morris.
Tortilla said group revenue grew 79% to £48.1mln in the year to 2 January 2022 and by 36% compared with full-year 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Customer demand grew across all channels of eat in, take away and delivery, underpinned by the roll-out of new sites. Last year, Tortilla opened new stores in Edinburgh, Exeter and Windsor, new delivery kitchens in Balham, Manchester and Brent Cross, and launched the first Tortilla site in partnership with Merlin Entertainments (AIM:MERL), taking the total company-run locations to 51 in the UK.
It operates 64 stores globally and plans to open 45 new sites in the next five years.
Tortilla shares climbed 4.36% to 191.50p in midmorning trade.