PizzaExpress to open more outlets globally

PizzaExpress intends to open more than 50 new restaurants this year, including 30 pizza outlets in the UK and Ireland, more Café Pastas and more overseas restaurants.

The announcement was made in the company's annual results to 30 June, which posted a 12% boost in pre-tax profits to £32.2m on turnover up 19% at £150.1m.

It ended the financial year with 243 pizza and 13 pasta restaurants in the UK and Ireland, and 24 overseas restaurants, nine new.

In the UK and Ireland, PizzaExpress says its decision to hold menu prices gave its pizza restaurants a powerful advantage, boosting turnover to £142.5m and serving nearly 15m customers.

Like-for-like sales climbed by 3% over the year and by 4.5% during the second half, and have averaged 10% since the year end.

The 32 new pizza restaurants achieved sales of £6.5m and profit margins of 10%. The company has already opened five of its planned 30 new sites, in Gosforth, Wallington, Slough, Newbury and Leeds. Chief executive Ian Eldridge sees scope for at least 450 PizzaExpresses in the UK and Ireland.

The company is looking at non-traditional sites, away from high streets. It also believes it can repeat its experiment in Richmond, where turnover doubled when it moved to a larger building.

Café Pasta made a loss of £1.3m on a turnover of £4.8m, but the division is now profitable.

PizzaExpress spent £600,000 reorganising the chain, including the sale of two loss-making restaurants and the refurbishment of 10 others. It spent a further £300,000 marketing the brand.

Like-for-like cover count was up by 18% by the end of June, and the group expects to open more pasta restaurants in London and the south east.

Overseas restaurants yielded a franchising turnover of £900,000 and profits of £200,000, but these were wiped out by start-up costs in the USA and Japan, which together had losses of £1.1m.

by Angela Frewin