CH&Co reports 4.6% sales growth
Caterer CH&Co has reported a 4.6% rise in annual turnover to £116.2m for the year ended 31 March 2015 (2014: £111m).
The figures account for the financial period just prior to the company's merger with HCM Group in June to form CH&CO Group. Pre-tax profit was £299,323 and the company reported administrative expenses totalling £10.5m, which included one-off charges that came about as the two businesses prepared to merge.
The results for coffee chain Apostrophe, which CH&Co bought the remaining 50% share of in April 2014, were excluded from the figures because the business was sold to Wyfold Farm (Investments) Ltd, a company owned by CH&Co founder and chairman Robyn and Tim Jones, shortly after the financial year concluded.
Apostrophe's annual turnover for the year was £7.1m, while a pre-tax loss of £1.9m was reported.
However, the coffee chain is expected to return to the CH&Co portfolio in the next month, as Madeleine Musselwhite, chief financial officer of CH&Co Group, explained.
"CH&Co enjoyed a steady increase in sales from £111m to £116m in the year to 31 March 2015 and our future growth prospects are very positive," she said.
"The accounts for the past trading year reflect the transitional period as the company prepared for its merger with Host Catermasters under the new CH&Co Group. As a result, some one-off charges were taken by the company and this reduced our pre-tax profits. The underlying trading profitability is in line with our expectations and the company is profitable going forward.
"In late May 2015 we decided to postpone the sale of Apostrophe into the new CH&Co Group due to the tight completion timescale for the overall merger. Instead, Apostrophe was retained by Tim and Robyn Jones until it could be transferred back into the group. The Apostrophe brand has continued to work closely with the new CH&Co Group and it will formally become part of CH&Co Group in the coming weeks."
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