25 April 2023

Loungers plc

("Loungers" or the "Group")

Trading update for the 52 weeks ended 16 April 2023

Continued industry-leading like for like sales growth; record revenues for the full year;
good progress on accelerated site roll-out, with 29 new openings in the year

Loungers, a leading operator of all-day café/bar/restaurants across the UK under the Lounge, Cosy Club and Brightside brands, today announces a trading update for the 52 weeks ended 16 April 2023.

The Group has continued to deliver industry-leading like for like sales growth, up 7.4% on a one-year basis and 17.6% ahead of pre-pandemic levels on a three year basis.  The Group is pleased to have delivered record total revenue for the financial year of £283.5m, up 19.5% on the previous year (FY22: £237.3m). 

The marked growth of 11.8% in one year like for like sales in H2, whilst partially reflective of the impact of Omicron in the comparative period,  also reflects a strong final 12 weeks to the financial year.  Our sales performance continues to highlight the relevance and resilience of our brands.

The strength of our sales performance has enabled the business to manage the macro-economic backdrop and accordingly we expect EBITDA for FY23 to be broadly in line with market expectations.

Our balance sheet remains strong, with non-property net debt at 16 April 2023 of £6.2m (17 April 2022: underlying net debt of £2.6m).  Year-end net debt reflects the acquisition during the year of three freehold sites for a total consideration of £3.9m and the acceleration of our site roll-out programme.

During FY23 the Group opened 29 new sites, comprising 24 Lounges, four Cosy Clubs and our first roadside site under our new Brightside brand, taking the portfolio to a total of 222 sites at year end.  Subsequent to the year end, we have opened a further Lounge in Altrincham.  The FY23 cohort of sites have traded well since opening and provide confidence as to the continuing strength of the pipeline.

Loungers expects to update the market next on 12 July 2023 when we announce our preliminary results for the year ended 16 April 2023.

Nick Collins, CEO, commented:

"We have once again delivered a truly stand-out performance over the year. Our sales have been exceptional with the mature estate trading 18% ahead of pre-pandemic levels and 7% ahead of what was a really strong performance last year. We have progressed well with our accelerated site roll-out programme, opening 29 sites during the year which as a cohort are trading well above average. The property market continues to work in our favour and our pipeline of around 35 sites for FY24 is incredibly exciting with nine openings planned for the first quarter. The first site of our new roadside concept, Brightside, has opened well, and we look forward to opening the next two Brightside sites in the summer. 

"For almost a decade now we have consistently out-performed the market as we strive to deliver better for our customers and our teams. The inflationary pressure across our supply chain looks to be easing, and our scale and continued growth have allowed us to mitigate much of the impact. We look forward to continued strong performance as we enter FY24."

Like for like sales performance

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