The
information communicated in this announcement contains inside
information for the purposes of Article 7 of the UK version of the
EU Market Abuse Regulation (2014/596) which is part of UK law by
virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018, as amended and
supplemented from time to time.
24 January 2025
Tasty plc
("Tasty", the
"Company" or the "Group)
Trading Update
Tasty (AIM: TAST), the owner and operator of
restaurants in the casual dining sector, announces a trading update
for the 53 week period ended 31 December 2024.
As announced in the trading update on 2 January
2025, trading in H2 2024 has continued to be a challenge,
particularly in the last quarter of the year. Although the Group's
restructuring plan, sanctioned on 4 June 2024, will enable the
return to profitability and should secure the Company's long-term
future, the resultant closures of part of the Group's estate has
had a negative impact on sales and has precipitated some
significant operational adjustments.
Furthermore, the hospitality industry and
particularly the casual dining sector, continue to face significant
headwinds, including declining consumer confidence, reduced
discretionary spend, inflationary food pricing and rising labour
costs. These pressures have been compounded by the UK Government's
October 2024 Budget, which introduced an increase in employers'
National Insurance contributions and a reduction in the secondary
threshold effective from April 2025, although the Company has
proactively introduced many cost-saving measures to partially
mitigate this.
As a result of the above and subject to audit,
the Company expects to report total sales from the restructured
estate of £36.6m (2023 full estate: £46.9m,) and adjusted EBITDA of
£3.8m (2023: £4.4m). Cash at the year-end is expected to be £3.3m
after restructuring and exceptional costs (2023: £4.2m).
The Company's plans to counter the economic
headwinds include launching a new electronic point of sale system
and loyalty platform to leverage off its approximate 1.5m customer
database to allow smarter, more targeted marketing.
With the recent settlement of the insurance
claim announced on 2 January 2025 and the debt free position of the
Group, as well as the proposed initiatives for 2025, the Board is
confident of being able to overcome the current challenges but
remains cautious in the current climate.
For further information, please
contact:
|
Tasty
plc
|
Tel: 020 7637 1166
|
|
Jonny Plant, Chief Executive
|
|
|
Cavendish
Capital Markets Limited
Nominated
Adviser and Broker
|
|
|
Katy Birkin/George Lawson
|
Tel: 020 7220 0500
|
