Fulham Shore’s shares rose 8.7% this morning after the restaurant group revealed it had more than doubled annual revenue to £82.7mln in 2022, up from £40.3mln a year earlier.
Chairman David Page said the owner of the Franco Manca pizza chain is one of the “success stories” to emerge from the pandemic, operating more restaurants now than it did two years ago.
“Over the past two years since March 2020, COVID-19 has had an unprecedented impact on UK society and on the hospitality sector in particular,” he said.
“We believe that we are one of the success stories emerging from this difficult period.”
The company posted a pre-tax profit of £3.9mln in the year to March 2022 compared to a loss of £7.5mln a year earlier when it was impacted by pandemic-related restrictions.
Fulham Shore now operates 84 restaurants globally, including Franco Manca pizzerias and The Real Greek restaurants, up from 72 a year ago.
In the year through to March, it opened six new Franco Manca pizzerias and four new Real Greek diners in the UK, as well as entering into the first franchise agreement for the Franco Manco chain in Greece under which two new pizzerias were opened.
It was forced to close one Real Greek restaurant during the period “due to a lack of return to pre-pandemic footfall” but opened one other.
Two new Real Greek restaurants are under construction in Solihull and Gloucester Quays.
To help fund the expansion Fulham Shore is not going to pay a dividend, or not yet anyway.
“Although we were considering putting in place a dividend policy, the impact of COVID-19 has meant that any plans for a dividend policy will be delayed until the full effects of the pandemic are over,” chairman David Page said in a statement today.
“The restaurant entrepreneur, whose previous endeavours include scaling the heights of Pizza Express after buying up a raft of its franchises, said the board will review “the suitability of a dividend policy” and a share buyback programme this financial year.
The group said it expects to trade “in line with management expectations” in the first quarter of 2023.