Double-digit sales rise for Oakman despite 2014 loss
Oakman Inns and Restaurants has achieved 12.2% like-for-like sales growth in the year so far to April 2015, as it gears up for further expansion.
The news comes as the business, which currently has nine sites, announced that it had agreed terms to take on a 10th, the Lazy Cow in Warwick. The company plans to rename the pub the Globe, although it has invited locals to have a say.
The figures follow a "transformational" year to 6 April 2014, when the company saw its turnover rise 21% to almost £10.9m, but at the same time slipped into a pre-tax loss of nearly £2m.
Chief executive Peter Borg-Neal (pictured) blamed the loss on the "distractions of fundraising and reorganisation", as well as unit closures for redevelopment.
He pointed to the fact that the business raised £3.67m of new equity in 2013/14 along with a further £2.3m since the year end.
The company spent £2.48m during the year to 6 April 2014 on two new sites, while still paying back its back debt "aggressively".
It also recruited new directors in accordance with its plans to expand, including Joseph Evans who joined as finance director from Whitbread, and Alex Ford who joined as operations director from Greene King.
In the year to April 2015, Site EBITDA for Oakman sites is expected to be around £2.2m.
Borg Neal said that with total EBITDA of £350,000 to £400,000 anticipated for the year, the company was set to be profitable. "Each new opening allows our EBITDA to grow exponentially," he said.
The company is expected to open another three sites later this year, in Cosgrove near Milton Keynes, Ampthill in Bedfordshire and Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.
