Tortilla slips to loss as it posts ‘quiet’ summer trading
However, the fast-casual restaurant chain held firm on its trading guidance for the year as sales continued to grow.
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Your support makes all the difference.Tortilla Mexican Grill slipped to a loss for the past six months as it witnessed a “quiet” summer.
However, the fast-casual restaurant chain held firm on its trading guidance for the year as sales continued to grow.
The business, which has 85 restaurants, revealed on Tuesday that its revenues increased by 22% to £32.7 million for the six months to July 2, compared with a year earlier.
Tortilla said its summer trading was “unsurprisingly quiet, as seen in the wider market”, which it linked to increased demand for overseas holidays, ongoing industrial action and “uninspiring weather”.
We continued to expand our store estate and have successfully embedded the Chilango acquisition
Despite recent growth, the company swung to a £600,000 pre-tax loss for the period, compared with a roughly £300,000 pre-tax profit a year earlier.
Tortilla said it is pushing forward with efforts to improve profitability and flagged that its cost pressures are “easing” as it also benefits from recently negotiated contracts.
Richard Morris, chief executive of Tortilla, said: “Despite the challenging economic backdrop, during the first half Tortilla demonstrated its resilience and showed consistent progress, with revenue growth of more than 20%.
“We continued to expand our store estate and have successfully embedded the Chilango acquisition.
“We have also enhanced our food offer and secured significant improvement in our costs structure while making technology upgrades which will improve and quicken customer service at peak trading times.
“With our outstanding food offer, excellent value for money and great service, alongside our adaptable and resilient business model, we remain well placed to continue expanding our UK network whilst taking the brand into new markets, particularly in Europe.”
Shares in the business dipped 0.4% in early trading.