Profits outstrip company expectations at Giardino

Giardino restaurants, the 34-strong chain that joined the alternative investment market in June, has announced annual profits of just over £2m in the year to the end of July.

Profits were £2.19m on turnover of £14.5m, compared with £273,000 profit on £11.4m turnover last year. The company paid a dividend 0.15p per share.

Chairman and chief executive David Leveton said that he was pleased with the figures because the company had forecast profits would be less than £2m.

Giardino operates four different types of restaurant: the counter-service Café Giardino; continental coffee shops called Pellini; French brasserie bars called Auberge; and Italian full-service restaurants called Azzurro. The group plans to open a total of 10 new restaurants in this financial year, including five Café Giardinos and three Auberge restaurants.

The core business of the group remains the Café Giardinos, which are in 25 shopping centres around the country.