PizzaExpress achieves record EBITDA figure in 50th year
PizzaExpress has broken the EBITDA barrier of £100m for the first time, according to the company's annual results announced today.
The group, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, also reported a 9.5% increase in turnover to £427.7m with like-for-like UK sales up by 5.6% for the year ended 28 June 2015.
EBITDA increased by 12.9% to £100.2m.
The year saw the opening of 19 new restaurants in the UK and 11 overseas.
The results are the first since PizzaExpress was acquired from Gondola Holdings by Chinese private equity company Hony Capital in July 2014 for £900m.
Richard Hodgson, chief executive of PizzaExpress, said business had been driven by key innovations including a strong Christmas menu and the launch of Romana65, an upgrade of the group's most iconic pizzas from the last 50 years.
"Since our year end in June, there have been some exciting developments in the business. In September we successfully launched the PizzaExpress delivery service. This is currently operating out of two restaurants delivering to selected London postcodes. It is an area with huge growth potential and we expect to roll the service out to more locations. In addition, we recently opened a pilot site in Cambridge for ‘Reys', our new chicken restaurant concept.
"We have made a positive start to the year with the core business trading well. We also have a strong pipeline of new sites, both in the UK and internationally. Overall, we remain excited by the future growth opportunities for PizzaExpress."
Founded in 1965 by Peter Boizot, PizzaExpress today has more than 500 restaurants worldwide with a strong retail presence selling over 34 million pizzas in UK supermarkets every year.
PizzaExpress to launch nationwide delivery service >>
PizzaExpress drops 8% administration charge on tips >>
Latest video from The Caterer
