Oakman Group sees sales rise to £57.8m
Seafood Pub Company is currently being demerged from Oakman and will move forward under the sole ownership and direction of Dermot King
Oakman Group Plc has reported a 6% rise in sales from £54.4m to £57.8m and EBITDA of £1.8m for the financial year ending 2 July 2023.
The group also recorded a “strong” end to the first half of financial year 2023/24 with sales over the Christmas trading period showing growth over the prior year.
For the 26 weeks ending 31 December 2023 Oakman’s total group sales increased 4.1% to £32.3m. Its site EBITDA was also up 10.4% to £5.4m and business EBITDA was up 40% to £2.4m.
Meanwhile, for the five weeks ending on 31 December 2023, the core Oakman Inns business delivered sales of £7.7m representing an increase of 9.5% on the prior year and LFL growth of 4.5%.
The positive Christmas trading had continued “a trend of gradual improvement in performance”, following a more challenging start to H1 driven by the “unseasonably poor weather” in July and August.
In addition to delivering sales growth, Oakman has made “significant” progress with respect to cost reduction and profit delivery.
Oakman said it has successfully raised £3.5m in the form of secured loan notes, principally from existing shareholders. The proceeds will be utilised to deliver continued profit growth of the underlying business and provide investment for secured pipeline sites.
At the beginning of the new financial year, the number of legal entities within the group was reduced from 12 to five, resulting in significant cost savings for the business.
Seafood Pub Company is currently being demerged from Oakman and will move forward under the sole ownership and direction of Dermot King.
Additionally, Oakman has agreed terms to purchase certain freehold interests for pubs currently operated by the company as leaseholds or under management contracts, providing an even stronger asset-backing to the business.
Following the demerger of Seafood Pub Company, Oakman will comprise 33 trading sites and five pipeline sites.
Peter Borg-Neal, CEO of Oakman Group, said: “External trading conditions remain challenging. However, I am delighted with the way the whole team has come together to deliver significant profit recovery over the past six months. The business is in great shape to meet the near-term challenges we face and to deliver significant growth in the medium-term.”