Richoux Group to open five sites in 2013 as turnover and profits rise

Restaurant company Richoux Group is set to open a further five restaurants in 2013, as it revealed increased turnover and profit for 2012.

The company announced this morning that turnover was up 9.4% to £9.85m for the year to 30 December 2012.

The company also moved back into the black, following a restructuring, making a pre-tax profit of £879,000 in 2012, compared to a £2.7m pre-tax loss the year before.

The company trades 14 sites under the Richoux, Zippers, Dean's Diner and Villagio brands.

During 2012, it sold underperforming restaurants in Barnet, High Wycombe, Slough and Basingstoke, along with its freehold Central Kitchen property, raising £0.92m in the process.

In October 2012, the company raised £2m through a subscription of new shares at 8p each. Veteran restaurateur Philip Kaye was one of the parties to buy shares in the business last year, having first invested in 2010.

Richoux Group now has four Richoux restaurants in London, using a brand that dates back to 1909.

There are six Villagio restaurants in Andover, Hammersmith, Berkhamstead and Basildon, along with new sites in Chiswick and Chiselhurst.

There are three Dean's Diners in Chatham, Port Solent, and Braintree.

And there is now just one Zippers site in Chatham, Kent.

Philip Shotter, chairman of Richoux Group, said: "I am pleased to report the restructuring of the Group's property portfolio has now been completed and we now present financial results which represent the profitability of our existing restaurant estate. With a strong balance sheet in place, the group is well placed to enter a growth phase with a number of new openings across all of our Villagio, Dean's Diner and Zippers brands planned in 2013."