21 May 2025

Tortilla Mexican Grill plc
("Tortilla", the "Group" or the "Company")

 

Audited Annual Results for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024

Publication of Annual Report & Accounts and Notice of Annual General Meeting

 

Strong progress with rejuvenated UK operations and strategic entry into Europe through the acquisition of Fresh Burritos

 

Tortilla Mexican Grill plc ("Tortilla"), the largest and most successful fast-casual Mexican restaurant group in the UK and Europe, announces its Annual Results for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024 (the "Period").

 

Andy Naylor, Chief Executive Officer of Tortilla, commented:

 

" I am pleased to report good progress over the last 12 months towards our strategic goal of becoming a pan-European fast casual Mexican restaurant business. When I stepped into the CEO role in April 2024, my first priority was to return the UK business back to in-store sales growth and improve profitability and I am delighted we have seen a turnaround in in-store volume growth and UK market outperformance, through investments in food, brand and technology. The second priority was to commence our European growth plans with the Fresh Burritos acquisition in France last summer. We have made solid strides with the integration: hiring a strong management team, launching a central kitchen in Lille, and converting all corporate owned stores to Tortilla's food offering. However, we have been delayed in our store conversion schedule, largely due to lengthy French planning approvals. These conversions are now due to commence shortly, with the vast majority of stores expected to be converted by the end of 2025."

 

Financial highlights

·    Revenue increased by 3.5% to £68.0m (2023: £65.7m) due to the strategic acquisition of Fresh Burritos in France, the addition of one UK company-owned site and a strong contribution from our franchise network.

 

·    UK like-for-like (LFL) sales recovered strongly, improving from 6% decline in March to 6% growth by December.

 

·    Group LFL sales marginally declined by 0.1% (2023: +3.6%), impacted by a challenging Q1 and Q2; strong rebound in H2 highlights improving momentum.

 

·    Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) of £4.5m (2023: £4.6m) with an increase in the UK to £5.2m (2023: £4.6m) offset by the expected early-stage losses from our acquisition of £0.7m (2023: nil).

 

·    Gross profit margin held strong at 76.6% (2023: 77.3%); UK in-store margin improved by 0.5% however France contributed a dilutionary impact as expected prior to the build of our central kitchen in Lille.

 

·    Operating cash generation increased to £10.7m (2023: £9.9m), demonstrating strong underlying cash flow.

 

·    Loss before tax of £3.3m (2023: £1.1m), driven by the one-off exceptional cost relating to the acquisition of Fresh Burritos, and an impairment charge recorded in the period in respect of a small number of UK locations

 

Operational highlights

 

·    Rejuvenated UK operations led to a LFL sales turnaround and improved UK profitability, highlighting progression made since launching the Vital 5 strategic pillars in April 2024), driven by sales recovery, process automation, improved buying power, installation of solar panels at the Central Production Kitchen and AI plugs in stores to reduce energy costs, whilst also continuing with the successful hedging strategy on food and utilities to shield from volatility.

·    Invest in brand to drive growth: Revitalised the quality of Tortilla's menu to drive frequency and attract new customers by improving recipes and sourcing of product and the food quality is now better than ever.

 

·    Fuelled brand growth through new partnerships and multi-channel activation with food-focused campaigns and enhanced digital engagement. High-impact quesadilla sampling campaign reaching 7.2m+ across press, social and influencer activities.

 

·    Invest in team and technology: New loyalty app launched in August 2024 including features like referral schemes, notifications and order-ahead functionality. The app now has 196,000 users and became the No1 Food & Drinks app during National Burrito Day in April 2025.  Rollout of self-order kiosks expanded: 11 new sites equipped in 2024, with 20 more planned in 2025 (12 installed YTD); kiosk sites demonstrated increase in efficiency, speed and average order value resulting in >10 percentage points increase in LFL sales versus non-kiosk sites.

 

·    Doubling down on franchise: Further strengthened the relationship with existing high-calibre franchise partners. SSP, focused on travel hubs, achieved 5% LFL sales growth in 2024, opened three new stores, and signed a five-year extension to double the estate to 18 sites. Eathos in the Middle East delivered +23.5% LFL sales growth, indicating strong potential for further franchise opportunities in the region.

 

·    Develop brand internationally: entry into Europe with the strategic acquisition of Fresh Burritos, including the acquisition of 13 company-owned leasehold sites in high quality locations across Paris and other major French cities, and the franchise rights to the Fresh Burritos brand and the network of 15 franchised locations at year end. The acquisition provides a springboard for franchise growth across Europe with a strategically located Central Production Kitchen (CPK) located in Lille launched post year-end in Q1 2025.

Post-period end trading & outlook

·    Q1 2025 UK LFL sales increased by 5.9%, outperforming the UK restaurant market by 8 percentage points. Q2 period to date at +6.2%, with the UK outlook for the full year in line with management expectations.

·    Four new franchise locations have opened YTD in 2025: Liverpool Street and Victoria Station (UK, with SSP) and Silicon Central Mall and Circle Mall (Middle East, with Eathos). Two further openings by our franchise partners expected in 2025 - one through SSP in the UK, and one with Eathos in the Middle East.

·    Following the launch of the Central Production Kitchen in Lille, France, during Q1, the last step in our integration of the Fresh Burritos business is to convert the stores to Tortilla. Last year, we made the strategic decision to pause the conversion and rebranding of our Fresh Burritos stores as we embarked on a comprehensive brand and interior design refresh. While this initiative was intended to ensure we launched the brand properly in France, we have encountered unforeseen delays due to the complex planning approval processes in France, which means on average a couple of months delay in uplift in sales per store compared with our previous market guidance. We are however pleased to announce that we are now poised to begin the conversion of our French stores to Tortilla with the first conversions scheduled to commence towards the end of the summer. With the enhanced brand identity and improved store designs, we are confident in our ability to achieve our long-term goals in the French market.

·    Strategic focus in 2025 on driving UK sales volumes, launching the refreshed brand in France, and leveraging new technology and loyalty initiatives for sustained profitable growth.

Publication of Annual Report & Accounts and Notice of Annual General Meeting

 

Tortilla Mexican Grill plc will publish later today its annual report and accounts for the financial year ended 29 December 2024 (the "Annual Report"), including the Notice of Annual General Meeting. These documents shall be available today on the Company's website.

 

The Company's Annual General Meeting will be held on 19 June 2025 at the offices of Panmure Liberum Limited, 25 Ropemaker Street, London, EC2Y 9LY.

 

ENQUIRIES

 

Tortilla Mexican Grill PLC	Via Eggmedia
Emma Woods, Non-Executive Chair
Andy Naylor, CEO
Maria Denny, CFO
Panmure Liberum Limited (Nominated Adviser, Sole Broker)	Tel: 020 3100 2222
Andrew Godber
Edward Thomas
Nikhil Varghese   Eggmedia Ltd (Public Relations) Ian Edmondson	Tel: 07710 571452 [email protected]
Ross Gow	[email protected]

For further information, visit www.tortillagroup.co.uk

 

NOTES TO EDITORS

 

About Tortilla Mexican Grill plc

 

Founded in 2007 by a San Francisco duo, Tortilla is Europe's largest fast-casual Mexican restaurant brand. With 81 UK locations (of which 14 are franchise stores), 27 in France (of which 14 are franchise stores) and 12 franchise stores in the Middle East, Tortilla serves 7 million+ meals annually, offering authentic California-style burritos, tacos and salads.

Through the acquisition of Chilango in the UK in 2022 and Fresh Burritos in France in 2024, as well as franchise partnerships with SSP Group plc, Compass UK & Ireland and Eathos, the brand continues to expand globally.

Tortilla breaks the mold of typical takeaways, combining quick service with quality ingredients to serve affordable, made-to-order meals in under 90 seconds, in cosy environments fitting for lunch or dinner and a beer with friends. The menu is fully customisable - there are thousands of flavour combinations to try - with produce that's fresh, never frozen, 70% plant-based and vegan-friendly, higher welfare meats and free from artificial flavours or preservatives.

Emphasising sustainability, Tortilla only uses recycled and recyclable packaging, 100% renewable electricity and sends zero waste to landfill.

Headquartered in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: MEX), Tortilla employs over 1,200 people.

 

CHAIR'S STATEMENT

 

I am pleased to say 2024 has been a year of significant progress for Tortilla, marking a return to sector outperformance in the UK and laying the foundation for growth across Europe, with the acquisition of Fresh Burritos, the largest burrito business in France and the second largest in Europe behind Tortilla.

Andy Naylor took over as CEO in March 2024, and launched the Vital Five strategy. This plan focuses on five key pillars to strengthen our position as Europe's largest fast-casual Mexican chain.

1.   Improve UK profitability

2.   Invest in brand to drive growth

3.   Invest in team and technology

4.   Double down on franchise

5.   Develop Tortilla internationally

The management team have put in place the foundations of the Vital Five Strategy over the last twelve months, with those efforts yielding positive early results. While there is more work to be done, the Board expects to see these efforts increasingly contribute to sales and profitability over the course of 2025.

Specific achievements during 2024:

i.          Revitalising our UK operations: Against a challenging backdrop of declining volumes across the sector over the last 24-months, the team fixated on in-store volume growth. We are pleased to report that by the end of the year Tortilla's UK business returned to year-on-year volume growth. Moreover, we took the strategic decision to slow down UK openings and directed significant efforts towards enhancing profitability, including a focus on improving the performance of our short tail of loss-making stores.

A crucial contributor to in-store volume growth has been an obsessive focus on our food offering. We conducted a comprehensive strategic food review which, combined with considerable investment in equipment at both the stores and our Central Production Kitchen, resulted in improvements to every core topping across the menu as well as the highly popular introduction of quesadillas at lunchtime. Other efforts included our first kids-meal offering and a significant ramp-up in the number of limited-time-offer campaigns, which have proven to be strong drivers of footfall and sales. 

Another key focus area for management in 2024 was driving brand awareness, particularly outside of London where awareness is not as strong. While further work is required in 2025, we saw an increase in prompted brand awareness from 18% to 19%[1] in 2024.

In anticipation of the conversion of the Fresh Burrito stores in France to Tortilla branded stores, in 2024 we undertook Tortilla's first brand refresh since 2010 alongside an overhaul of our interior design, resulting in a more contemporary and purposeful design than our current store fitouts. We look forward to showcasing this new design in France and as part of a broader UK store refresh project.

 

ii.         Introducing effective tech: In 2024, we successfully piloted self-ordering kiosks, which have proven to increase sales and efficiency. Encouraged by these results, we are now implementing kiosks out more widely, alongside continued improvements to the overall customer experience.

We also launched our first loyalty app, which has been well-received by customers and is driving repeat purchases. Both initiatives represent important investments in our long-term strategy, and we look forward to refining and expanding these technology-driven growth levers in the years ahead.

iii.        Investment in team and culture: We have implemented a new internal development framework to create clear career paths for our employees, alongside leadership training and the introduction of the "Burrito Masters" competition to foster a sense of camaraderie and excellence in our stores. These efforts have led to higher employee satisfaction and reduced turnover, strengthening Tortilla's position as an employer of choice.

iv.        Strengthening our franchise partnerships: 2024 also marked a year of growth in our franchise operations with our UK franchise partners SSP and Compass opening four new stores in aggregate. A key milestone was the five-year extension of our development agreement with SSP, which will see us more than double the number of SSP sites in the UK over the coming years.

v.         Expanding internationally: Establishing a foothold in continental Europe has been a critical priority for Tortilla for years, as part of our long-term strategy to be the leading fast-casual Mexican operator throughout Europe. To this end, after an extensive review of several options, we acquired the second largest burrito business in Europe after Tortilla, Fresh Burritos in France, in July 2024. This acquisition provided us with 13 company-owned stores in prime locations across Paris and other major French cities, as well as the franchise rights to a network of 18 franchised locations. Our objective is to convert the majority of our company owned stores to the Tortilla brand in 2025. While we purposefully delayed the conversions to finalise the aforementioned brand refresh and new interior design in order to launch the brand properly in France, we unfortunately had further delays from France's notoriously challenging local planning approval processes and timelines. The conversion of the Fresh Burritos stores to Tortilla is the last step in our integration of the Fresh Burritos business, with the Tortilla food offering now live in all owned stores following the launch of our 14,000 sqft Central Production Kitchen in Lille earlier in 2025. 

Board changes:

As part of our ongoing transformation, we saw key changes at the Board level in 2024. Andy Naylor transitioned from CFO to CEO in April 2024, taking the reins from Richard Morris, who stepped down after a decade at the helm.

In early 2025 we also said goodbye to Quilvest Capital Partners, a global private equity firm that has been an investor in Tortilla since 2011. As part of this significant change we welcomed Auctor Group, a technology holding company, as our largest shareholder; and were pleased to announce that Usman Ali, Managing Partner at Auctor, took on a role as Non-Executive Director on the Tortilla Board.  This appointment further emphasises Tortilla's strategic focus on technology as one of our Vital 5 growth pillars.

2025 - Year 2 of Vital 5 with key focus being driving growth in the UK and converting the French stores

In conclusion, 2024 was a year of progress, driven by a new strategy, and a renewed focus on food, ambience, technology and brand awareness. The progress we have made has shored-up key areas of the business, put in place foundational building blocks to drive the Vital Five, and given us confidence in our future prospects. The Board is excited about the opportunities that lie ahead.

As we step into 2025, we will be leveraging the positive momentum generated last year to continue to drive profitable growth in the UK. Whilst in France, we will see the final step in the acquisition of Fresh Burritos, with Tortilla finally establishing a long-awaited foothold on the continent, paving the way for expansion across Europe.

 

Emma Woods

CHAIR

20 May 2025

 

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER'S STATEMENT

 

As the Chair's report has highlighted, 2024 was a year of significant progress and I am pleased with the momentum the business is building.

I took over as CEO in April 2024 and my first priorities were UK in-store like-for-like sales (LFL)[2] which improved from a 6% decline in March 2024 to 6% growth by year-end, and our UK profitability which rose from £4.6m in 2023 to £5.2m in 2024  ("Adjusted EBITDA"). 

Secondly, we began expanding into Europe with the Fresh Burritos acquisition in France last summer.

This progress was an output of the first year of 'Tortilla's Vital 5'strategy:

1.   Improve UK profitability

2.   Invest in brand to drive growth

3.   Invest in team and technology

4.   Double down on franchise

5.   Develop Tortilla internationally

I have explained below the focus area for each pillar.

Improve UK profitability

Our UK restaurant margin improved by 2 percentage points last year, as we made progress in improving our profit conversion year-on-year by becoming more efficient and strengthening our purchasing power and supplier relationships. A key focus has been securing long-term supply contracts to protect margins in an uncertain environment with rising costs. In response to significant labour cost inflation, we have also taken steps to reduce unproductive labour in our stores by automating certain processes at the central kitchen. UK profitability also benefitted by the increased in-store like-for-like sales as the year went on, and renegotiation of our delivery strategy. As we move through 2025, we will continue to benefit from these cost-saving initiatives while we keep driving profitability through volume growth.

 

Invest in brand to drive growth

 

As the Chair report highlights, we have reconsidered all our core menu items, testing new approaches to improve our recipes. This has resulted in the introduction of our new asado chicken, along with recipe adjustments to our beans, salsas and slow-cooked proteins to enhance quality, flavor and the overall eating experience. Additionally, we have also invested in new cooking equipment for our quesadillas, enabling us to serve them all day in under 60 seconds - something that previously took about five minutes and was only available after 2pm. This led to our "ditch the sandwich" campaign offering quesadillas at a competitive entry price point to increase visit frequency and attract new customers.

We have also introduced limited-time-offers (LTOs) and brand collaborations to generate excitement around our food and engage both our customers and excited our teams. This strategy has been successful so far and something we plan to expand on in 2025 and beyond.

As well as stronger food, in 2024, the Group has made progress in our marketing efforts, focusing on driving customers through our doors through brand collaboration, monthly influence specials, and targeted events. The launch of our new loyalty app in August has enabled us to continue to provide generous offers to our loyal customers and also direct targeted marketing to increase visit frequency and raise the average order value. By year-end we had 79,000 loyalty customers.

 

 

Invest in team and technology

 

Technology has played a crucial role in our growth this year. In 2023, we opened our first self-ordering kiosk site in London Wall, located in the City of London's financial district. After seeing strong results and some further pilot site testing, we expanded to 11 new kiosk sites in 2024, with another 20 planned for 2025. The customer feedback has been positive as the kiosks help reduce the waiting time during busy periods, ensure a smoother flow of customers, and allow customers to browse our menu at their own speed. This has resulted in both increased volume and higher average order values, with kiosk sites seeing more than 10 percentage points improvements in like-for-like sales compared with pre-kiosk installation and versus non-kiosk stores. As we roll out further kiosks in 2025, we are also further refining the customer journey to ensure it is as seamless as possible from a customer point of view.

 

As mentioned above, we also launched our first loyalty app in August, which includes features like referral schemes, notifications and order-ahead functionality. The app not only enhances the customer experience but also allows us to target specific loyalty groups directly, such as lapsed users, to drive greater visit frequency - an important part of our growth strategy.

 

In addition, we implemented a new internal data warehouse and business intelligence tool to improve data quality and speed up analysis and report creation. This has enabled us to make more informed decisions, stay agile, and respond quicker to changes in market conditions and consumer behaviour.

 

Another key priority has been to make Tortilla an employer of choice. This year, we hired a new Head of Learning and Development and introduced an internal development framework to provide clear career paths. We also launched "Burritos Masters", a fun competition across stores to recognise and celebrate the best burrito roller in the company, highlighting the hard work and dedication of our store teams. In addition, I have worked with the rest of the Executive team to increase face-to-face touchpoints with store managers through quarterly business updates, and regular social events. These efforts, coupled with all food news, have had a positive impact on company culture, and our employees now feel more connected and prouder to work at Tortilla. This is reflected in our high employee engagement scores in our Employee Engagement Survey (97.7% completion rate, with an overall engagement of 79%, up from 45% in 2023), and a significant reduction in staff turnover, down to 90% in 2024 from 119% in 2023, and with our most recent rolling 12-month turnover rate end of Q1 2025 at 84%.

 

We are also committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion, ensuring that all employees feel valued and respected, regardless of their background. This is demonstrated by that over 50% of our workforce is non-British, 51% of our management roles are filled by women, and nearly half of our team is under 25.

 

We are also proud of the steps we have taken to reduce our environmental impact and work towards our ESG targets. During the year Tortilla installed a state-of-the art 60.68kWP solar PV system at our UK central production kitchen, which will lead to a reduction of 11 tonnes of carbon a year. Furthermore, the Group also implemented an AI powered solution to manage plugged-in devices, resulting in a 32% reduction in energy consumption in our plugged-in devices during a successful trial at ten sites. This has now been rolled out across the full estate, and we expect significant improvements in energy efficiency and sustainability, with the full impact to be seen in 2025.

 

 

 

Double down on franchise

Franchising is a key element of our business strategy and will play an even greater role in our growth as we expand into new markets. Our straightforward operating model is well-suited for franchising due to offering flexibility in site format, a simple kitchen setup and a central production food model that ensures consistent high-quality food and an efficient labour structure without reliance on chefs. In addition, our established brand, purchasing power and investment in marketing and food development provide valuable support to our franchisees.

 

In 2024, we were pleased to further strengthen our relationship with our existing UK franchise partners, SSP Group ("SSP") and Compass Group ("Compass"). With SSP, we focus on expanding within travel hub locations, and with Compass, we target higher education campuses across the UK. These sites have continued to perform well with strong like-for-like sales growth (SSP +5% LFL sales). In 2024, SSP opened three new sites, with a further two opened in the first quarter of 2025 and more planned for later in the year. Compass opened one site during the year. I am especially pleased that in September 2024, we were able to sign a new five-year development agreement with SSP, which will see the number of sites double over the duration of the contract to a minimum of 18 Tortilla units.

 

Alongside this, our Middle East franchise business with Eathos has also performed strongly, with +23.5% like-for-like sales in 2024, giving us confidence to explore further franchise opportunities in the region. We have opened two new sites in the Middle East in 2025 YTD, with another one planned for this year in Abu Dhabi.

 

Following the acquisition of Fresh Burritos, we now have a franchisee network in France. With the strategically placed new central kitchen in Lille, we see significant growth potential for further franchise expansion in mainland Europe as we leverage our position as Europe's largest fast-casual Mexican restaurant brand.

 

 

Develop Tortilla internationally

 

In the summer of 2024, we completed the strategic acquisition of Fresh Burritos, the second largest fast-casual Mexican restaurant group in Europe and the largest in France, for a total consideration of €3.95m (£3.34m). This acquisition was an immense step forward in our international expansion plans and to further strengthen our franchising strategy. We acquired 13 company-owned leasehold restaurants, in prime locations across Paris and other major French cities, as well as the rights to the Fresh Burritos brand and a network of 18 franchise locations at point of acquisition.

 

Since the acquisition, we have been focused on building a local team in France, currently led by our French Managing Director, Gilles Boehringer, who previously served as VP of Development & Franchise for KFC France. In addition, we introduced a new central production kitchen in Lille, which became fully operational in February 2025, now serving both our own and franchise stores. At nearly three times the size of our UK central kitchen, it enables us to produce consistent food at scale for the European market.

 

With the central kitchen now up and running, our focus for 2025 will be to roll out our new and refreshed store design in France. This will involve converting the majority of our own Fresh Burritos stores to Tortilla stores throughout the year with the first few planned for late summer.

 

While the UK will always be the heart of Tortilla, this acquisition gives us an important footfall in France and provides a solid platform for expanding our franchise network across Europe. We will update our shareholders with any significant developments as they arise.

 

 

Current trading and outlook

 

We continue to see steady year-on-year profit improvements in the UK, leveraging on our 2024 initiatives. Although the market in 2025 continues to be soft due to challenging macro-economic conditions, our UK LFL sales for Q1 2025 showed promising growth at +5.9%, outperforming the wider restaurant sector by 8 percentage points. We remain confident that our investment in food, technology and marketing will continue to support robust LFL sales growth going forward and we confirm that the full year outlook for the UK is in line with management expectations.

 

Since year-end we have opened four stores with our franchise partners: two in the UK (Liverpool Street station and Victoria station) in partnership with SSP, and two in the Middle East (Silicon Central Mall and Circle Mall) through Eathos.

 

In France, our team has worked hard to get the central production kitchen in Lille up and running, and we are pleased to now be serving both company-owned and franchise stores with food prepared in the CPK. Last year, we made the strategic decision to pause the conversion and rebranding of our Fresh Burritos stores as we embarked on a comprehensive brand and interior design refresh. While this initiative was intended to ensure we launched the brand properly in France, we have encountered unforeseen delays due to the complex planning approval processes in France, which means on average a couple of months delay in uplift in sales per store compared with our previous market guidance. We are however pleased to announce that we are now poised to begin the conversion of our French stores to Tortilla with the first conversions scheduled to commence towards the end of the summer. With the enhanced brand identity and improved store designs, we are confident in our ability to achieve our long-term goals in the French market.

 

I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished over the past year, from the progress made in the UK to the expansion through our franchise partners, and the strategic acquisition of Fresh Burritos, which has provided us with an important springboard into mainland Europe. With our food offering now better than it has ever been, and exciting technology developments in progress, I am looking forward to what 2025 and beyond will bring.

 

 

Andy Naylor

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

20 May 2025

 

KEY STRENGTHS

Entrance into Europe

In July 2024, the Group acquired the French Burritos business, marking the beginning of Tortilla's journey into mainland Europe. The acquisition of 13 company-owned stores in prime locations across Paris and other major cities, as well as a network of 14 franchised locations at year end, enables Tortilla to reach a strong footfall in France. These stores are planned to be converted to Tortilla stores, strengthening our brand awareness and paving the way for global recognition of the Tortilla name.

Earlier in 2025 we launched a new Central Production Kitchen in Lille, which has enabled Tortilla's food offering to be made in our French stores. The new Lille kitchen is 3x the size of our existing facility in the UK, placing us in a strong position for future growth, and acting as a springboard into other European countries.

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER'S REVIEW

Group financial KPI summary

 

	2024	2023	Change
Revenue	£68.0m	£65.7m	+ 3.5%
Gross profit margin	76.6%	77.3%	- 0.7% pts
Administrative expenses	£53.3m	£50.1m	+ 6.4%
Net loss after tax	(£3.3m)	(£1.1m)	+ 204%
Cash generated from operations	£10.5m	£9.9m	+ 5.8%
Alternative performance measures ("APMs")
LFL revenue growth	(0.1)%1	3.6%2	- 3.7 ppts
Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16)3	£4.5m	£4.6m	- 2.0%
Net cash/(debt) (pre-IFRS-16)4	(£5.7m)	(£1.3m)	- 335%

 

¹ defined as the percentage change in like-for-like sales compared to 2023.

² defined as the percentage change in like-for-like sales compared to 2022.

³ defined as statutory operating profit before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (before application of IFRS 16 and excluding exceptional costs) and reflects the underlying trade of the Group. UK reported an Adjusted EBTIDA of £5.2m (£4.6m in 2023), whilst France was (£0.7)m
The reconciliation to profit from operations is set out below in this section of the report.

⁴ defined as cash and cash equivalents less gross debt.  Calculated on a pre-IFRS 16 basis and so does not include lease liabilities.

 

Revenue

 

Revenue increased 3.5% to £68.0m compared to £65.7m in 2023. This was attributable to the following:

 

·    The addition of 13 company-owned sites in France from the acquisition of the Fresh Burritos Group.

·    The addition of one new company-owned UK site, four UK franchise sites, and the annualisation of the 2023 openings. The Group remains ahead of its aim of opening 45 new sites across the five years following its IPO in October 2021.

·    The inclusion this year of income generated from food sales made to franchise partners, rather than as a credit to our cost of sales. This adjustment contributed 1.1% to our revenue growth. The prior year impact of 0.9% has not been adjusted in the comparatives as this is not deemed to be material to the financial statements.

·    An underlying 0.1% decline in in-store LFL across the estate driven in particular by a challenging Q1 which saw a -6% decline. This improved to growth of 6% in the last quarter following the renewed focus on an improved food offer, brand awareness and technology.

·    A 11.2% decrease in LFL delivery sales, following the strategic decision to move improve delivery profitability by moving to dual-platform end of February 2024.

 

Gross profit margin

 

The Group achieved a gross profit margin in 2024 of 76.6% (2023: 77.3%). This 0.7% decrease was driven primarily by a -0.9% impact of the reclassification of the income generated by food sales made to franchise partners, as described above.  There is also a -0.2% impact due to a lower margin achieved in France, as in 2024 the Group had not yet moved over to a central production kitchen. The underlying margin achieved in in-store sales in the UK improved by 0.5%, reflecting effective negotiations with the Group's main food suppliers.

 

Administrative expenses

 

Under application of IFRS 16, administrative expenses exclude property rents (except for turnover rent) and incorporate the depreciation of right-of-use assets.

 

Administrative costs increased by 6.3% year-on-year to £53.3m. Of this increase £4.4m (8.8%) is due to the acquisition of Fresh Burrito. The balance relates to increased UK costs due to the National Minimum Wage increase, higher business rates, and some investment in marketing to assist brand awareness.

 

Administrative expenses include exceptional items of £1.5m in 2024 (2023: £0.4m). In 2023 exceptional items primarily consisted of a new site planned which was subsequently aborted, and restructuring costs, while across 2024 £1.3m of costs are associated with the Fresh Burritos acquisition.

We also incurred an impairment charge of £1.4m in 2024 (2023: £0.3m), impacting 6 stores, which reflects tough market conditions. The discount rate used for the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) was 15.0% pre-tax (2023: 15.1%). See note 3 to the Financial Statements for more information.

 

Net Loss after tax

Net loss after tax position is (£3.3m) (2023: £1.1m), an increase of 204%, which is primarily driven by the exceptional item costs related to the Fresh Burritos acquisition flagged above and impairment of some stores to bring them in line with their respective profitability.

 

 

Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) (non-GAAP)

 

The Group utilises Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16) as the primary assessment metric of profitability.  A reconciliation of this measure compared to profit from operations is below.

 

		52 weeks ended	52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024	31 December 2023
		£	£
(Loss)/profit from operations		(1,186,504)	684,110
Pre-opening costs		397,243	344,570
Share option expense		(45,393)	387,443
Depreciation and amortisation		8,762,397	8,155,815
Loss on disposal of fixed assets		126,690	40,746
Impairment		1,441,586	289,901
Exceptional items		1,522,532	437,756
FX loss		67,035	-
Non-trading costs		3,612	18,540
IFRS 16 adjustment*		(6,614,043)	(5,793,606)
Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16)		4,475,155	4,565,275

 

 

*The IFRS 16 adjustment relates to the impact of IFRS 16 on rental expenses contained within administrative expenses.

 

The Group generated £4.5m of Adjusted EBITDA (pre-IFRS 16), a total decrease of £0.1m compared to 2023. The £4.5m of Adjusted EBITDA in 2024 is comprised of £5.2m generated by the UK estate (+£0.6m vs 2023), offset by £(0.7m) generated by the France subgroup.

 

The increase in UK profitability reflects steadily improving LFL performance during the year aided by improvements to the food offer, and investment in technology, such as self-ordering kiosks and our loyalty app. It also reflects better profit conversion year-on-year through improved delivery economics, improvements in buying margins and focus on cost control.  We believe this puts us in a strong position to continue to drive profitable growth in the UK in 2025.

 

Since the acquisition of Fresh Burritos, we have worked on stabilising the business operationally and are confident that following the launch of the central production kitchen and the conversion of the Fresh Burritos stores to Tortillas, the business will become profitable in 2026.

 

Cash flow and liquidity

 

The core business remains highly cash generative with a 5.8% increase in cash generated from operations.

 

Working capital requirements are by nature low and are indeed negative, with cash from in-store customers received and recognised at the point of sale. Hence, trade and other receivables in the main relate to delivery partner receipts and landlord deposits. Trade and other payables relate to supplier credit terms, wages and utility accruals. Additionally, fast delivery times and Central Production Unit (CPU) efficiencies allow for low stock level requirements, meaning inventories are kept at a minimum. This negative working capital position should continue to grow in line with expansion plans.

Cash expenditure on property, plant and equipment increased by £0.5m largely due to the construction of our new Central Production Kitchen in Lille, France. This is offset by lower expenditure for the construction of new company-owned sites in the UK.

 

The acquisition of the Fresh Burritos group resulted in a net cash outflow of £1.4m. Further details are given in note 25 to the Financial Statements.

 

The Group is confident it can pay its current liabilities as they fall due, as consumers pay at the point of sale and the inventory is used before supplier payment is due. The Group also have an overdraft facility of £2.5m with Santander which can be utilised for any unforeseen events. The overdraft is part of and not in addition to the revolving credit facility referred to below.

 

Financing and net debt

 

The Group had cash balances of £2.8m on 29 December 2024, which translated to a net debt position of £5.7m (2023: net debt of £1.3m), excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities.

 

The Group's £10.0m revolving credit facility (RCF) is held with Santander UK plc and comprises of a drawn balance of £7.2m at 29 December 2024 with a further £2.8m of undrawn facility available to the Group. £4.2m of the facility was drawn during 2024 in order to finance the Fresh Burritos acquisition.

 

The financing facility attracts interest at a rate of 2.75% above SONIA, subject to an upward-only ratchet based on increased net leverage levels and is secured until 14 September 2026.

 

A number of further facilities were brought into the Group as part of the Fresh Burritos acquisition, which is contributing £1.3m to the Group's net debt position at 20 December 2024. These comprise of 13 separate loan facilities held with French banking groups. See note 20 of the Financial Statements for further information.

 

Share based payments

 

In 2024, the Group granted further Long-Term Incentive Plan (LTIP) shares to the senior leadership team. Share-based payment credits of £0.05m were recognised in 2024 (2023: £0.39m) relating to the Group's Long Term Incentive Plan ("LTIP") created as part of the Group's admission to the Alternative Investment Market ("AIM"). The small release in 2024 is driven by the reversal of the share-based payment charge relating to options forfeited in 2024.

 

Further details around vesting conditions are disclosed in note 8.

 

 

Dividend

 

The Board did not recommend a dividend for 2024.  The Group's capital will be focused on growth over the coming years with the dividend policy subject to re-assessment going forward.

 

Going concern

 

In assessing the going concern position of the Group for the consolidated financial statements for the year ending 29 December 2024 the Directors have considered the Group's cash flow, liquidity and business activities for a period of not less than twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements.

 

During 2024, as mentioned above, the Group drew down £4.2m from the available debt facilities in order to finance the Fresh Burritos acquisition, and at 29 December 2024 has access to a further £2.8m of financing.

 

Management of the Group has prepared forecasts for a period of not less than twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements, which include a base case and a downside case (with the latter incorporating management's quantification of realistic worst case scenarios).  As part of the going concern assessment, these projections incorporate the effect of mitigating actions that might be necessary to maintain cash, facility and covenant headroom in adverse scenarios.

 

Upon consideration of these analyses and the principal risks faced by the Group, the Directors are satisfied that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future. Accordingly, the Directors have concluded that it is appropriate to prepare these financial statements on a going concern basis. The going concern policy is also reflected in note 2.6 of the financial statements.

 

Maria Denny
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
20 May 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Consolidated statement of comprehensive income

For the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024

 

			52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
			29 December 2024		31 December 2023
	Note		£		£
Revenue	4		67,999,489		65,674,965
Cost of sales			(15,899,248)		(14,883,204)
Gross profit			52,100,241		50,791,761
Administrative expenses			(53,286,745)		(50,107,651)
Operating (loss)/profit	5		(1,186,504)		684,110
Finance income	9		83,999		31,900
Finance expense	10		(2,214,464)		(1,801,176)
Loss before tax			(3,316,969)		(1,085,166)
Tax on loss	11		(9,502)		(7,377)
Loss for the period and comprehensive income attributable to equity holders of the parent company			(3,326,471)		(1,092,543)
(Loss) / earnings per share for profit attributable to the owners of the parent during the year
Basic and diluted (pence)	12		(8.6)		(2.8)

 

There were no items of recognised income or expense other than as shown in the Consolidated statement of comprehensive income above. All activities relate to continuing operations.

 

The notes on pages 21 to 49 form part of these financial statements.

 

Consolidated statement of financial position

As at 29 December 2024

 

					29 December 2024				31 December 2023
	Note				£				£
Non-current assets
Intangible assets	14				4,909,031				2,627,039
Tangible assets	15				15,169,803				14,119,801
Right-of-use assets	13				31,592,056				29,520,494
					51,670,890				46,267,334
Current assets
Inventories	16		547,753				358,861
Trade and other receivables	17		3,299,473				3,135,075
Cash and cash equivalents	18		2,760,960				1,644,674
			6,608,186				5,138,610
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables	19		(12,180,782)				(9,749,505)
Lease liabilities	13		(7,060,640)				(5,670,902)
Net current liabilities					(12,633,236)				(10,281,797)
Total assets less current liabilities					39,037,654				35,985,537
Non-current liabilities
Loans and borrowings	20				(8,433,523)				(2,949,021)
Lease liabilities	13				(30,489,693)				(29,532,937)
Deferred taxation	21				(600,419)				(617,696)
Net assets					(485,981)				2,885,883
Equity attributable to equity holders of the company
Called up share capital	22				386,640				386,640
Share premium account	23				4,433,250				4,433,250
Share based payment reserve	23				794,585				839,978
Merger reserve	23				4,793,170				4,793,170
Retained earnings	23				(10,893,626)				(7,567,155)
Total equity					(485,981)				2,885,883

 

The accompanying notes on pages 21 to 49 form an integral part of these financial statements.

The Company statement of financial position can be found on page 50.

The financial statements of Tortilla Mexican Grill plc (registration number 13511888) were approved and authorised for issue by the board and were signed on its behalf by:

Maria Denny

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
20 May 2025

Consolidated statement of changes in equity

For the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024

 

		Called up share capital		Share premium account		Share-based payment reserve		Merger reserve		Profit and loss account		Total
		£		£		£		£		£		£
At 02 January 2023		386,640		4,433,250		452,535		4,793,170		(6,474,612)		3,590,983
Loss for the period		-		-		-		-		(1,092,543)		(1,092,543)
Share based payments		-		-		387,443		-		-		387,443
At 01 January 2024		386,640		4,433,250		839,978		4,793,170		(7,567,155)		2,885,883
Loss for the period		-		-		-		-		(3,326,471)		(3,326,471)
Share-based payments		-		-		(45,393)		-		-		(45,393)
At 29 December 2024		386,640		4,433,250		794,585		4,793,170		(10,893,626)		(485,981)

 

The notes on pages 21 to 49 form part of these financial statements.

 

 

Consolidated statement of cash flows

For the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024

 

			52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
			29 December 2024		31 December 2023
	Note		£		£
Cash flows from operating activities
Loss for the financial period			(3,326,471)		(1,092,543)
Adjustments for:
Amortisation of intangible assets	14		14,045		5,166
Depreciation of right-to-use assets	13		4,685,847		4,344,878
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment	15		4,054,126		3,805,769
Loss on disposal of tangible assets	15		126,690		40,746
Net finance expense	10		393,782		269,491
Taxation charge	11		9,502		7,377
(Increase) / decrease in inventories	16		(156,032)		38,222
Decrease/ (Increase) in trade and other receivables	17		162,555		(327,477)
Increase in trade and other payables	19		918,854		639,436
Impairment of property, plant and equipment	15		598,291		289,901
Impairment of right-to-use asset	13		158,538		-
Impairment of intangible assets	14		684,757		-
Corporation tax received / (paid)			571,145		(3,402)
Share based payments			(45,393)		387,443
Finance cost on lease liabilities	13		1,735,062		1,531,685
Foreign exchange loss			(72,472)		-
Net cash generated from operations			10,512,826		9,936,692
Cash flows from investing activities
Purchase of tangible fixed assets	15		(4,999,191)		(4,535,117)
Interest received	9		83,999		31,900
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired			(1,350,253)		-
Net cash from investing activities			(6,265,445)		(4,503,217)
Cash flows from financing activities
Interest paid	10		(477,781)		(282,849)
Payments made in respect of lease liabilities	13		(6,853,314)		(5,881,752)
Loan drawdown			4,200,000		-
Net cash used in financing activities			(3,131,095)		(6,164,601)
Net increase/ (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents			1,116,286		(731,126)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of period	18		1,644,674		2,375,800
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of period			2,760,960		1,644,674

 

Notes to the consolidated financial statements

 

1.   General information

 

Tortilla Mexican Grill plc, the "Company" together with its subsidiaries, "the Group", is a public limited company whose shares are publicly traded on the Alternative Investment Market, "AIM", and is incorporated and domiciled in the United Kingdom and registered in England and Wales (registration number 13511888).

 

The registered address of Tortilla Mexican Grill plc and all subsidiaries is 142-144 New Cavendish Street, London, W1W 6YF, United Kingdom. A list of the Company's subsidiaries is presented in note 26.

 

The Group's principal activity is the operation and management of restaurants trading under the Tortilla, Chilango, and Fresh Burritos brands within the United Kingdom, France, and the Middle East.

 

Judgements made by the directors in the application of these accounting policies have been discussed in note 3.

 

2.   Accounting policies

 

2.1 Statement of compliance

 

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards in conformity with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 and in accordance with International Accounting Standards as adopted by the UK.

 

Tortilla Mexican Grill plc has taken advantage of the exemption under section 408 of the Companies Act 2006 to not present its own statement of comprehensive income. The loss for the single entity Tortilla Mexican Grill plc for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024 was £861,668 (31 December 2023: £5,479).

 

2.2            Basis of preparation of financial statements

 

The consolidated financial information contained in this document includes the consolidated statement of comprehensive income, the consolidated statement of financial position, the consolidated statement of changes in equity and the consolidated statement of cash flows, and related notes for the companies which comprise the Group.

 

The financial statements have been prepared on an accruals basis and under the historical cost convention unless otherwise stated. The financial statements are presented in GBP.

 

2.3            New standards, amendments and interpretations adopted

 

The Directors do not consider that there are any new standards or amendments applicable for the 52 weeks ending 29 December 2024 that would have a material impact on the Group's accounting treatment.

 

2.4  Standards issued but not yet effective

 

The following standards are applicable for financial years beginning on/after 1 January 2025:

 

·    IAS 21 - Lack of Exchangeability

 

The following standards are applicable for financial years beginning on/after 1 January 2026:

 

·    IFRS 9 and IFRS 7 - Classification and Measurement of Financial Instruments

 

When applied, none of these amendments are expected to have a material impact on the Group.

 

2.5            Basis of consolidation

 

The consolidated financial information incorporates the financial statements of the Group and all of its subsidiary undertakings. The financial statements of all Group companies are adjusted, where necessary, to ensure the use of consistent accounting policies. Where the Group has power, either directly or indirectly, to govern the financial and operating policies of an entity to obtain benefits from its activities, it is classified as a subsidiary.

 

The statement of financial position as at 29 December 2024 incorporates the results of Tortilla Mexican Grill plc and its subsidiaries for all periods, as set out in the basis of preparation.

 

2.6 Going concern

 

In assessing the going concern position of the Group for the consolidated financial statements for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024, the Directors have considered the Group's cash flow, liquidity and business activities.

 

During 2024 the Group drew down £4.2m from the debt facilities in order to finance the acquisition of Fresh Burritos group. At 29 December 2024, £2.8m of the facility remained undrawn. The Group had cash balances of £2.8m on 29 December 2024 which translated to a net debt position of £5.7m, excluding lease liabilities.

 

As part of their going concern assessment the Directors have prepared forecasts for a minimum period of twelve months from the date of approval of the financial statements. In addition, certain adverse scenarios have been considered for the purposes of stress and sensitivity testing. In these adverse scenarios, the Group would have sufficient liquidity to remain in compliance with its covenant obligations.

 

Upon consideration of this analysis and the principal risks faced by the Group, the Directors are satisfied that the Group has adequate resources to continue in operation for the foreseeable future, a period of at least twelve months from the date of this report. Accordingly, the Directors have concluded that it is appropriate to prepare these financial statements on a going concern basis.

 

2.7            Revenue

 

Revenue represents the amount receivable from customers for goods and services, exclusive of VAT and discounts.

 

The Group has recognised revenue in accordance with IFRS 15. The standard requires revenue to be recognised when goods or services are transferred to customers and the entity has satisfied its performance obligations under the contract, and at an amount that reflects the consideration to which an entity expects to be entitled in exchange for those goods or services.

 

The Group's revenue comprises of:

 

•     Food and beverage sales at restaurants with one performance obligation that is satisfied when control is transferred to the customer at the point of sale, which is usually when payment is received, and no contract assets or contract liabilities are created. The Group also generates revenue with third-party delivery partners, which is payable the week after the revenue was recorded. Revenue comprises the fair value of the consideration received or receivable for the sale of goods and provision of services in the ordinary course of the Group's activities. Revenue is shown net of sales/value added tax, returns and discounts; and

 

•     Franchise fees from the Group's role as franchisor in the UK, France, and Middle East. Revenue comprises ongoing royalties based on the sales results of the franchisee and up-front initial site fees. Royalty revenue is accrued in line with reported sales performance once revenue can be reliably measured. Upfront initial site fees are recognised on opening of the associated franchisee restaurant.

 

The Group operates a loyalty scheme for customers which entitles the customer to free products after a specified number of purchases. IFRS 15 requires entities to recognise a liability for the provision of these products as the customer, in effect, pays the Group in advance for future goods. The Group has not recognised this liability as the value is not considered material.

 

 

2.8            Employee benefits

 

Short-term benefits 

Salaries, wages, paid annual leave and sick leave, bonuses and non-monetary benefits are accrued in the period in which the associated services are provided by employees of the Group.

 

Defined contribution plan

Contributions to defined contribution schemes are charged to the consolidated statement of comprehensive income in the year to which they relate.

 

 

2.9  Share-based payments

 

A transaction is accounted for as a share-based payment where the Group receives services from employees and Directors and pays for these in shares or similar equity instruments.

 

The Group makes equity-settled share-based payments to certain employees and Directors. Equity-settled share-based schemes are measured at fair value (excluding the effect of non-market-based vesting conditions) at the date of grant, measured by use of an appropriate valuation model.

 

The fair value determined at the grant date of the equity-settled share-based payment is recognised as an expense in the statement of comprehensive income on a straight line basis over the vesting period.

 

The vesting is dependent on achievement of specific performance conditions for the 2023, 2024 and 2025 financial years. The share-based payment expense will be modified if it is determined that these performance conditions will not be met.

 

Share options are forfeited when an employee ceases to be employed by the Group unless determined by the board to be a 'Good Leaver'. A participant who ceases employment by reason of death, injury, ill-health or disability is also deemed a good leaver.

 

 

2.10 Current and deferred tax

 

Tax is recognised in profit or loss except that a charge attributable to an item of income and expense recognised as other comprehensive income or to an item recognised directly in equity is also recognised in other comprehensive income directly in equity respectively.

 

The current income tax charge is calculated on the basis of tax rates and laws that have been enacted or substantively enacted by the balance sheet date in the countries where the Group operates and generates income.

 

 

Deferred tax balances are recognised where the carrying amount of an asset or liability in the consolidated statement of financial position differs from its tax base, except for differences arising on:

 

•     the initial recognition of goodwill;

•     the initial recognition of an asset or liability in a transaction which is not a business combination and at the time of the transaction affects neither accounting or taxable profit; and

•     investments in subsidiaries and jointly controlled entities where the Group is able to control the timing of the reversal of the difference and it is probable that the difference will not reverse in the foreseeable future.

 

Recognition of deferred tax assets is restricted to those instances where it is probable that taxable profit will be available against which the difference can be utilised.

 

The amount of the asset or liability is determined using tax rates that have been enacted or substantially enacted by the balance sheet date and are expected to apply when the deferred tax liabilities or assets are settled or recovered. Deferred tax balances are not discounted.

 

Deferred tax assets and liabilities are offset when the Group has a legally enforceable right to offset current tax assets and liabilities and the deferred tax assets and liabilities relate to taxes levied by the same tax authority on either:

 

•     the same taxable group company; or

•     different company entities which intend either to settle current tax assets and liabilities on a net basis, or to realise the assets and settle the liabilities simultaneously, in each future period in which significant amounts of deferred tax assets and liabilities are expected to be settled or recovered.

 

2.11 Alternative performance measures ("APMs")

 

The Group has identified certain measures that it believes will assist the understanding of the performance of the business. These APMs are not defined or specified under the requirements of IFRS. The Group believes that these APMs, which are not considered to be a substitute for, or superior to, IFRS measures, provide stakeholders with additional useful information on the underlying trends, performance and position of the Group and are consistent with how business performance is measured internally.

 

The Group's APMs are: like for like ("LFL") revenue growth/(decline), Adjusted EBITDA (Pre-IFRS), Operating cash flow and net cash/(debt).

 

The Directors use Adjusted EBITDA as a primary KPI in managing the business. This measure excludes exceptional items, share option expenses and site pre-opening costs and applies pre-IFRS 16 treatment of leases. The Directors believe this measure gives a more relevant indication of the underlying trading performance of the Group and is also the measure used by the banks for the purposes of assessing covenant compliance.

 

2.12 Intangible assets

 

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the difference between amounts paid on the cost of a business combination and the acquirer's interest in the fair value of the Group's share of its identifiable assets and liabilities of the acquiree at the date of acquisition. Subsequent to initial recognition, goodwill is measured at cost less accumulated impairment losses. Goodwill is tested for impairment on an annual basis.

 

Other intangible assets

Intangible assets are initially recognised at cost. After recognition, under the cost model, intangible assets are measured at cost less any accumulated amortisation and any accumulated impairment losses. Amortisation is charged so as to allocate their cost over their estimated useful life on a straight line basis. Computer software assets have a finite useful life, which is determined to be 3 years.

 

2.13  Property, plant and equipment

 

Items of property, plant and equipment are initially recognised at cost. As well as the purchase price, cost includes directly attributable costs.

 

Depreciation is charged so as to allocate the cost of assets less their residual value over their estimated useful lives, using the straight-line method.

 

Depreciation is provided on the following basis, which is reviewed at each balance sheet date:

 

Short-term leasehold property                       - over the lease term

Plant and machinery                          - over 5 years

Fixtures and fittings                           - over 3 years

 

2.14  Leases

 

Right-of-use assets

The Group recognises a right-of-use asset at the lease commencement date. Right-of-use assets are initially measured at the same amount as the lease liability, reduced for any lease incentive received. Subsequently, right-of-use assets are amortised on a straight line basis over the remaining term of the lease and are assessed for impairment at each balance sheet date. The majority of leases are covered by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 which gives the right to extend the lease beyond the termination date. The Group expects to extend the majority of leases covered by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. This extension period is not included within the lease term as the termination date cannot be determined.

 

Lease liabilities

At the commencement date of the lease, the Group recognises lease liabilities measured at the present value of lease payments to be made over the lease term. The lease payments include fixed lease payments less any lease incentives receivable. In calculating the present value of lease payments, the Group uses its incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date because the interest rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable. Where the Group expects to extend the leases covered by the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, the extension period is not included within the lease term as the termination date cannot be determined and these are not reasonably certain.

 

Subsequently, lease liabilities are increased to reflect the interest cost on the liability and reduced for the lease payments made, which are recognised on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. In addition, the carrying amount of lease liabilities is remeasured if there is a modification, for example a rent review or a change in the lease term.

 

When a lease liability is remeasured, the Group adjusts the carrying amount of the liability to reflect the payments to be made over the revised term, which are discounted at a revised discount rate. An equivalent adjustment is made to the carrying value of the right-of-use asset, with the revised carrying amount being depreciated over the remaining (revised) lease term. Lease payments which are variable in nature and are not linked to any index or rate are expensed in the period to which they relate.

 

2.15 Impairment

 

Assets that are subject to depreciation or amortisation are assessed at each balance sheet date to determine whether there is any indication that the assets are impaired.

 

For the purposes of assessing impairment, assets are grouped at the lowest levels for which there are separately identifiable cash inflows which are largely independent of the cash inflows from other assets or groups of assets (cash- generating units). Each site is considered to be a CGU in its own right.

 

Goodwill arising on the acquisition of Chilango Ltd and the Fresh Burritos group has been allocated to individual cash-generating units based on the forecasted EBITDA expected to be generated from each cash-generated unit at the date of acquisition.

 

Other assets are tested for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount may not be recoverable. An impairment loss is recognised for the amount by which the asset's carrying amount exceeds its recoverable amount. The recoverable amount is the higher of an asset's (or CGU's) fair value less costs to sell and value in use. Non-financial assets that have been previously impaired are reviewed at each balance sheet date to assess whether there is any indication that the impairment losses recognised in prior periods may no longer exist or may have decreased.

 

2.16 Inventories

 

Inventories are initially recognised at cost, and subsequently at the lower of the cost and net realisable value. Cost comprises all costs of purchase, costs of conversion and other costs incurred in bringing the inventories to their present location and condition.

 

Inventories are measured on a first-in-first-out basis.

 

2.17 Cash and cash equivalents

 

Cash is represented by cash in hand and deposits with financial institutions repayable without penalty on notice of not more than 24 hours. Cash equivalents are highly liquid investments that mature in no more than three months from the date of acquisition and that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash with insignificant risk of change in value. Payments taken from customers on debit and credit cards are recognised as cash.

 

2.18 Valuation of investments

 

Investments in subsidiaries are measured at cost less accumulated impairment. Income is recognised from these investments only in relation to distributions receivable from post-acquisition profits. Distributions received in excess of post-acquisition profits are deducted from the cost of the investment.

 

2.19 Operating segments

Operating segments are reported in a manner consistent with the internal reporting provided to the Chief Operating Decision-Maker ("CODM"). The CODM has been identified as the management team including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer.

 

The Directors have taken a judgement that individual sites meet the aggregation criteria in IFRS 8, constituting one operating and one reporting segment and hence have concluded that the Group only has a single reporting segment, as discussed in note 4.

 

2.20 Equity instruments

 

Financial instruments issued by the Group are treated as equity only to the extent that they do not meet the definition of a financial liability. The Group's ordinary shares are classified as equity instruments.

 

2.21 Financial instruments

The Group does not trade in financial instruments and all such instruments arise directly from operations.

 

Financial assets

Financial assets held at amortised cost are trade and other receivables and cash. All trade and other receivables are initially recognised at transaction value, as none contain in substance a financing transaction.

 

Trade receivables are all due for settlement within one year. Due to their short-term nature, the Directors consider the carrying amount of trade and other receivables to equal their fair value.

 

Fees paid on the establishment of loan facilities are recognised as transactional costs of the loan and the fee is capitalised as a prepayment for liquidity services and amortised straight line over the period of the facility to which it relates.

 

Financial assets that are measured at cost and amortised cost are assessed at the end of each reporting year for objective evidence of impairment. The Group applies the IFRS 9 simplified approach to measure expected credit losses using a lifetime expected credit loss (ECL) provision for financial assets. To measure expected credit losses on a collective basis, financial assets are grouped based on similar credit risk and ageing. There are no expected credit losses as consideration for goods is received at the point of sale.

 

Interest income is recognised in the Statement of comprehensive income and is included in the "finance income" line item.

 

Financial liabilities

Financial liabilities held at amortised cost include trade and other payables, lease liabilities and borrowings. Trade and other payables are initially recognised at transaction value as none represent a financing transaction. They are only derecognised when they are extinguished.

 

There are no material differences between the carrying values of financial assets and liabilities held at amortised cost and their fair values.

 

Financial assets and liabilities are offset and the net amount reported in the consolidated statement of financial position when there is an enforceable right to set off the recognised amounts and there is an intention to settle on a net basis or to realise the asset and settle the liability simultaneously.

 

Interest payable is recognised in the Statement of comprehensive income and is included in the 'finance expenses' line item.

 

2.22 Financial risk

The Group's activities expose it to a variety of financial instrument risks. The risk management policies employed by the Group to manage these risks are detailed below. The primary objectives of the financial instrument risk management function are to establish risk limits and then ensure exposure to risks remains within these limits.

 

Interest rate risk

The Group is exposed to interest rate risk as the Group's borrowings have an interest rate of SONIA plus a margin.

 

Commodity price risk

The Group is exposed to movements in wholesale prices of food and drinks. The Group sources the majority of its products in Europe, however there is the risk of disruption to supply caused by external factors, for example political or economic factors. The Group always benchmarks any cost changes and typically fixes prices for periods of between three and six months.

 

Capital risk

The Group manages the capital structure to ensure it will be able to operate as a going concern, whilst maximising the return to shareholders. The Directors look to optimise the debt-to-equity balance and may adjust the capital structure by paying dividends to shareholders, returning capital to shareholders, issue new shares or sell assets to reduce debt. The Directors intend to maintain low net leverage levels as the Group's operating cash flows are sufficient to fund the addition of new restaurants to the portfolio.

 

Credit risk

The Group's credit risk is attributable to trade and other receivables and cash with the carrying amount best representing the maximum exposure to credit risk. The Group places its cash only with banks with high-quality credit standings. Trade and other receivables relate to day-to-day activities which are entered into with creditworthy counterparties.

 

Liquidity risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that the Group may encounter difficulties in meeting its financial obligations as they fall due. They may arise from the Group's management of working capital, finance charges and principal repayments on its debt. Following the acquisition of the Fresh Burritos group, the Group's liquidity risk profile includes the working capital and funding requirements of the French operation.

 

The Group has access to a £10m revolving credit facility held with Santander UK plc, of which £2.8m is undrawn at the year end. Of this undrawn amount, £2.5m has been allocated to an ancillary facility, an overdraft, which was not utilised at 29 December 2024. As part of the Group's acquisition of Fresh Burritos group on 5 July 2024, fifteen bank loans totalling £1,335,928 were acquired.

 

The Directors regularly review cash flow forecasts to determine whether the Group has sufficient reserves to meet obligations and take advantage of opportunities.

 

Maturity analysis

 

		Within 1 year		1 to 2 years		2 to 5 years		Over 5 years		Total
		£		£		£		£		£
29 December 2024
Trade and other payables		12,180,782		-		-		-		12,180,782
Lease liabilities		8,514,332		6,998,525		16,087,227		16,610,119		48,210,203
Borrowings		-		7,770,634		585,777		77,112		8,433,523
		20,695,114		14,769,159		16,673,004		16,687,231		68,824,508
31 December 2023
Trade and other payables		9,749,505		-		-		-		9,749,505
Lease liabilities		5,804,285		5,548,013		13,630,276		18,373,748		43,356,322
Borrowings		-		-		2,949,021		-		2,949,021
		15,553,790		5,548,013		16,579,297		18,373,748		56,054,848

 

Lease liabilities in table are undiscounted for purposes of report

2.23 Provisions for liabilities

Provisions are made where an event has taken place that gives the Group a legal or constructive obligation that probably requires settlement by a transfer of economic benefit, and a reliable estimate can be made of the amount of the obligation.

 

Provisions are charged as an expense to profit or loss in the year that the Group becomes aware of the obligation, and are measured at the best estimate at the balance sheet date of the expenditure required to settle the obligation, taking into account relevant risks and uncertainties.

 

When payments are eventually made, they are charged to the provision carried in the Statement of financial position.       

 

3.   Critical accounting estimates and judgements

The Group makes certain judgements, estimates and assumptions regarding the future. Estimates and judgements are continually evaluated based on historical experience and other factors, including the expectations of future events that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Judgements that have been made by the directors in the application of these accounting policies that fall within the scope of IAS 1 paragraph 125 have been discussed below.

Determining the discount rate for IFRS 16

 

At the commencement date of property leases the lease liability is calculated by discounting the lease payments. The discount rate used should be the interest rate implicit in the lease. However, if that rate cannot be readily determined, which is generally the case for property leases, the lessee's incremental borrowing rate is used. This being the rate that the individual lessee would have to pay to borrow the funds necessary to obtain an asset of similar value to the right-of-use asset in a similar economic environment with similar terms, security and conditions.

 

The Directors carried out a review of the historic borrowing rates of the Group and historic bond rates together with analysis of the lease terms. They concluded that the use of a single discount rate applied to all leases signed prior to 2 January 2022 is a reasonable approach. Based on this analysis a discount rate of 3.4 percent has been applied. Subsequently, discount rates have been applied on a lease-by-lease basis, in order to reflect the increasing risk-free rate during this period. These discount rates range from 4.9 percent to 7.3 percent.

 

For the lease liabilities at 29 December 2024 a 0.1 percent increase in the discount rate would reduce the total liabilities by £140,000 (31 December 2023: £11,000), which is not considered to be material. Therefore this is not considered to be a key source of estimation uncertainty.

 

Impairment of goodwill, right of use assets and property, plant and equipment

 

Goodwill, right-of-use assets and property, plant and equipment are reviewed for impairment when there is an indication that the assets might be impaired by comparing the carrying value of the assets with their recoverable amounts. The recoverable amount of an asset or cash generating unit (CGU) is determined based on value-in-use calculations prepared on the basis of the Directors' estimates and assumptions. Individual sites are viewed as separate CGUs.

 

The key assumptions in the value-in-use calculations include the growth rates of revenue and expenses, together with the Group's weighted average cost of capital (WACC), which is used as a discount rate. Projected cash flows are based on financial budgets approved by the Board covering a four year period. Beyond this four year period, projected cash flows have been based on a 3.0% growth rate until the end of the lease terms. The value-in-use calculations also factor in the cost of maintaining the assets, set at £21,000 per annum for each site based on historic averages, and the impact of direct overhead costs.

 

For the leases held in Chilango Ltd, a further key assumption in the value-in-use calculations was that the leases with terms ending in less than five years would be able to be renewed with terms of 10  years, in line with the term lengths of leases held by Mexican Grill Ltd. If this assumption was incorrect, the maximum potential impact on the impairment charge for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024 is an increase of £880,000 (31 December 2023: increase of £1,605,818).

 

An independent external consultancy was engaged to calculate the Group's post-tax WACC. As at 29 December 2024, the pretax WACC was determined to be 15.0% (31 December 2023: 15.1%). An increase in the discount rate of 1.0 percent would increase the impairment charge for the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024 by £33,000 (31 December 2023: £nil), which is not considered to be material.

 

In the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024, goodwill of £5,510,175, property, plant and equipment assets of £15,768,094 and right-of-use assets of £31,750,594 have been tested for impairment. Detailed impairment testing resulted in the recognition of an impairment charge of £598,291 (52 weeks ended 31 December 2023: £289,901) against property, plant and equipment assets (note 15), an impairment charge of £684,757 (52 weeks ended 31 December 2023: £nil) against goodwill (note 14), and an impairment charge of £158,538 (52 weeks ended 31 December 2023: £nil) against right-of-use assets (note 13).

 

As these assumptions have a significant risk of resulting in a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities within the next financial year, these are considered to be key sources of estimation uncertainty.

 

 

Business combinations

The acquisition of the Fresh Burritos group has been accounted for using the acquisition method under IFRS 3. The identifiable assets and liabilities are recognised at their fair value at the date of acquisition. Determining the fair value of these assets and liabilities involved a degree of estimation. In particular, the goodwill held within the Fresh Burritos group was not determined to be separately identifiable and so the fair value of this goodwill was adjusted to £nil. Additionally, a fair value adjustment was recognised in respect of the right-of-use assets to reflect the expected cash flows to be generated by the leases over their remaining terms, which is a source of significant estimation uncertainty.

Useful economic lives of property, plant and equipment

 

The depreciation charge is dependent upon the assumptions used regarding the useful economic lives of assets. A 10 percent increase in average useful economic lives would result in a £369,000 decrease in depreciation in the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024 (31 December 2023: £346,000). This is not considered to be material and therefore this judgement is not deemed to be a key source of estimation uncertainty.

 

Share-based payments

 

The charge for share-based payments is calculated according to the methodology described in note 8. The Black-Scholes model requires subjective assumptions to be made including the volatility of the Company's share price, fair value of the shares and the risk free interest rates.

 

The vesting of certain share-based payments is dependent on the achievement of specific performance and expansion targets over the three financial years 2023, 2024 and 2025. Assumptions have been made regarding the likelihood of these criteria being met. A 25% increase in likelihood would result in a £33,000 increase in share-based payment charge in the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024 (31 December 2023: £21,175). This is not considered to be material and therefore this judgement is not deemed to be a key source of estimation uncertainty.

 

4.   Revenue

 

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		£		£
Sale of goods		66,898,225		64,848,049
Franchise royalty income		1,101,264		826,916
		67,999,489		65,674,965

 

Geographical analysis - revenue
UK		64,593,706		65,348,619
Rest of Europe		3,003,338		-
Rest of World		402,445		326,346
		67,999,489		65,674,965
Geographical analysis - non-current assets
UK		45,456,164		46,267,334
Rest of Europe		6,214,726		-
		51,670,890		46,267,334

 

IFRS 8 Operating Segments requires operating segments to be based on the Group's internal reporting to its Chief Operating Decision Maker ("CODM"). The CODM is regarded as the management team of the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer.

The Group has five income streams:

•     UK sales from Group-operated restaurants

•     UK franchise sales from franchised restaurants

•     Middle East franchise sales from franchised restaurants

•     France sales from Group-operated restaurants

•     France franchise sales from franchised restaurants

The franchise aspects of the business have a minimal cost and asset base which cannot be reliably determined and therefore they are not considered to be material and separable segments, and are not separately monitored. There are similar economic characteristics between the franchise aspects and the Group-operated restaurant business, with each following a similar sales and EBITDA trajectory. These have been reviewed by the Directors along with the non-financial criteria of IFRS 8. It is the Directors' judgement that despite some short-term variability, all income streams have similar economic characteristics in the medium and long-term and meet the criteria for aggregation into a single reporting segment. Therefore, no segmental analysis is provided. While the nature of the Group's business is not considered to encompass separate operating segments for the reasons outlined above, there geographical monitoring and therefore analysis is presented in line with IFRS 8 paragraph 33.

5.   Operating profit

 

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		£		£
Depreciation and amortisation		8,762,397		8,155,814
Impairment of right-of-use assets		158,538		-
Loss on disposal of fixed assets		126,690		40,747
Impairment of fixed assets		598,291		289,901
Impairment of goodwill		684,757		-
Variable lease payments		418,846		692,886
Inventories - amounts charged as an expense		15,889,248		14,883,204
Share option (credit)/expense		(45,393)		387,443
Pre-opening costs (non-GAAP)**		397,243		344,570
Exceptional items (non-GAAP)*		1,522,532		437,756
Bank arrangement fee amortisation		18,540		18,540
Auditors remuneration:
Audit fees		165,610		133,000
Other assurance services		17,500		9,700

 

* Exceptional items in 2024 includes £1.3m of costs incurred in relation to the acquisition of Fresh Burritos (see note 25).

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		£		£
Pre-opening costs		397,243		344,570
Number of new launches in period		3		6

 

** Pre-opening costs include costs of £84,562 for the opening of one UK site, and costs of £312,681 for the conversion of an acquired site in Strasbourg, France, to the Tortilla brand and the opening of our Central Processing Kitchen in Lille, France.

 

6.   Employees

The average monthly number of employees, including the directors, during the period was as follows:

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		No.		No.
Operations staff		1,127		1,094
Head office staff		61		52
		1,188		1,146
		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		£		£
Wages and salaries		21,026,142		19,634,665
Social security costs		1,462,167		1,164,438
Pension costs		279,981		220,650
Share based (credit)/expense (note 8)		(45,393)		387,443
		22,722,897		21,407,196

Directors' remuneration, included in staff costs, was as follows:

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		£		£
Short-term employee benefits		762,000		585,205
Post-employment benefits		2,000		2,643
		764,000		587,848

 

7.   Directors' remuneration and key management information

 

The highest paid Director received remuneration of £223,000 (2023: £231,000).

 

The number of Directors receiving pension contributions was 2 (2023: 2).

 

The share-based payment credit arising from the Directors' participation in the Company's LTIP scheme was £160,000 (2023: expense £219,000).

 

There are no Key Management Personnel other than the Directors. Further information about the remuneration of individual Directors is provided in the Annual Remuneration report on pages 48 to 51 of the annual report.

 

 

8.   Share based payments

 

A transaction is accounted for as a share-based payment when services are paid for in shares or similar equity instruments.

 

The Group issues equity-settled share-based payments to Directors and certain members of staff. Equity-settled share-based schemes are measured at fair value at the date of grant, using the Black Scholes valuation model. The expected life used in the model is adjusted, based on Management's best estimate, for the effects of non-transferability, exercise restrictions and behavioural considerations.

 

The fair value determined at the grant date of the equity-settled share-based payment is expensed on a straight-line basis over the vesting period, based on the Group's estimate of shares that will eventually vest.

 

The Tortilla Mexican Grill plc Long-Term Incentive Plan 2021 ("LTIP")

 

Under the LTIP, options were awarded to Directors and members of the senior management team. 50 percent vests after three years and the remaining 50 percent vests after the fourth year. The vesting is dependent on achievement of specific Adjusted EBITDA targets for the 2023 and 2024 financial years. The Adjusted EBITDA target for 2023 has been met, however the target for 2024 has not been met. Therefore the options that were due to vest after three years have been forfeited.

 

In the 52 weeks ended 1 January 2023, 205,714 nil cost options were awarded under the LTIP to Directors which will vest on 1 December 2024. The vesting is dependent on the Directors' continuous employment.

 

In the 52 weeks ended 31 December 2023, 600,387 nil cost options were awarded under the LTIP to Directors and members of the senior management team which will vest on 10 May 2026. The vesting of the awards made to Directors is dependent on achievement of specific performance and expansion targets over the three financial years 2023, 2024 and 2025, as well as the Directors' continuous employment. The vesting of the awards made to members of the senior management team is dependent on continuous employment only.

 

In the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024, 1,166,778 nil cost options and 119,081 market value options were awarded under the LTIP to Directors and members of the senior management team which have a vesting period of 36 months. The vesting of the awards made to Directors is dependent on achievement of specific expansion targets over the three financial years 2024, 2025 and 2026, as well as the Directors' continuous employment. The vesting of the awards made to members of the senior management team is dependent on continuous employment only.

 

Awards are forfeited if the employee leaves the Group before the awards vest, except under the circumstances where the employee is considered a 'Good Leaver'.

 

 

Details of the share awards outstanding are as follows:

 

		29 December 2024		29 December 2024		31 December 2023		31 December 2023
		Number of share options		Weighted average exercise price		Number of share options		Weighted average exercise price
		#		£		#		£
Outstanding at beginning of the period		2,245,991		1.2		1,946,046		1.6
Granted during the period		1,285,859		-		600,387		-
Exercised during the period		-		-		-		-
Forfeited during the period		(1,076,618)		1.5		(300,442)		1.8
Outstanding at the end of the period		2,455,232		0.5		2,245,991		1.2

 

The awards outstanding at the end of 29 December 2024 have a remaining weighted average contractual life of nineteen months (31 December 2023: nineteen months) and an exercise price of £0.46 (31 December 2023: £1.16). At the end of 29 December 2024 543,392 awards were exercisable (31 December 2023: none).

 

The Group recognised total credits related to the above equity-settled share-based payment transactions in the form of options during the 52 weeks ended 29 December 2024 of £60,136 (31 December 2023: charge of £369,021) and related employer National Insurance charge of £14,743 (£31 December 2023: £18,422).

 

The fair values were calculated using a Black Scholes model. The inputs used for fair valuing awards granted during the period were as follows:

 

		29 December 2024
		May-24		Jul-24		Dec-24		31 December 2023
Share price at grant date (pence)		47p		53p		51p		107p
Exercise price (pence)		-		-		52p		-
Expected volatility (%)		58%		57%		53%		56%
Option life (years)		3.0		3.0		3.0		3.0
Risk free interest rate (%)		4.11%		3.96%		4.12%		3.88%

 

 

9.   Interest receivable

 

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		£		£
Bank interest income		83,999		31,900

 

10. Interest payable and similar expenses

 

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
		£		£
Bank interest payable		477,781		269,491
Finance cost on lease liabilities		1,736,683		1,531,685
		2,214,464		1,801,176

 

11. Taxation

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
Current tax
UK corporation tax on profits for the period		-		-
France corporation tax on profits for the period		26,779		-
Adjustments in respect of previous periods		-		(610,319)
Total current tax		26,779		(610,319)
Deferred tax
Origination and reversal of timing differences		(17,277)		617,696
Total deferred tax		(17,277)		617,696
Total tax charge for the period		9,502		7,377

 

 

 

Factors affecting tax charge for the period

 

The tax assessed for the period differs from the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK and France of 25%. The differences are explained below:

 

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
Loss on ordinary activities before tax		(3,316,969)		(1,085,166)
Loss on ordinary activities multiplied by standard rate of corporation tax in the UK and France of 25% (2023 UK: 25%):		(829,242)		(271,292)
Effects of:
Expenses not deductible for tax purposes		415,580		91,098
Capital allowances in excess of depreciation		140,616		608,059
Other timing differences, primarily arising from operating lease accounting		(157,893)		129,693
Movement in unprovided deferred tax		440,441		60,138
Adjustments to tax charge in respect of prior periods		-		(610,319)
Total tax charge / (credit) for the period		9,502		7,377

 

 

At 29 December 2024, the Group had unused carried forward tax losses of £5,265,402 (31 December 2023: £3,037,488). £1,768,479 of carried forward tax losses relate to France group entities, which have not been recognised as a deferred tax asset as the timing of utilisation is uncertain. The remainder are held with UK group entities which are expected to be fully utilised in future periods. The rate used to calculate the deferred tax balances at 29 December 2024 is 25% (31 December 2023: 25%).

 

12. Earnings / (Loss) per share

 

Basic earnings/(losses) per share is calculated by dividing the loss attributable to equity shareholders by the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the period.

 

		52 weeks ended		52 weeks ended
		29 December 2024		31 December 2023
Loss used in calculating basic and diluted loss		(3,326,471)		(1,092,543)
Weighted average number of shares for the purpose of basic and diluted earnings per share		38,664,031		38,664,031
Basic and diluted loss per share (pence)		(8.6)		(2.8)

 

In accordance with IAS 33, diluted EPS must be presented when a company could be required to issue shares that would decrease earnings per share or increase the loss per share. However, IAS 33 stipulates that diluted EPS cannot show an improvement compared to basic EPS. In this case, as the inclusion of potential ordinary shares would result in an improvement, they have been disregarded in the calculation of diluted EPS.

 

 

13. Leases