26th Mar 2014 13:03
LONDON (Alliance News) - Eclectic Bar Group PLC Wednesday reported higher revenue for the first half of the year, but lower profit, due to costs associated with its recent listing on AIM, and as it invested in expanding and developing the business.
The UK bar operator, which listed on AIM in November last year to fund its growth through new site acquisitions and developments, said that revenue rose 9.6% to GBP11.4 million in the six months ended December 29, 2013, up from GBP10.4 million a year earlier.
It said that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation and before adjusting items, primarily associated with admission costs to AIM, were up 13% in the first half at GBP1.7 million.
However once adding up all its costs, as well as acquisition and site opening costs, it reported a lower pretax profit for the period of GBP100,000, compared with GBP600,000 a year earlier.
The group operates 20 bars in major towns and cities across the UK, including Lola Lo, Po Na Na and Fez Club. Its target customer base is "sophisticated students, stylish over 21's and young professionals".
During the first half of the year the group acquired several bars, including Coalition in Brighton and Coyote Wild in Derby. It also signed a new lease in Deansgate Locks in Manchester, where it opened its ninth Lola Lo bar, which it said has outperformed sales expectations since its opening.
Eclectic Bar said that it has continued to trade well in the second half of the year, with similar trading patterns to the first half, and said it is confident its profitable progress will continue.
The group said it will continue to seek and identify development opportunities across its existing estate to enhance the profitability of the business.
"Eclectic operates in a fragmented marketplace with strong potential to grow by site acquisition, and there is scope across the UK's major conurbations for the company to expand and grow," it said.
Since the end of the first-half, it said it has exchanged contracts to acquire Lowlander in the Covent Garden area in central London. Lowlander is an established bar and brasserie business, which Eclectic Bar said provides an immediate profit contribution and importantly a food-led brand which can be rolled out nationally over time.
Eclectic Bar said that it has increased its credit facility with Barclays PLC to GBP5 million, from GBP1.5 million, to give it the capacity for further new acquisitions.
It said that in the absence of unforseen circumstances, it intends to begin paying a dividend from the end of the current financial year.
Shares in Eclectic Bar Group were trading 0.6% higher at 171.00 pence per share Wednesday afternoon.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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