Carluccio’s reports £27.7m pre-tax loss for 2017

Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s has reported a pre-tax loss of £27.7m for the year ending 24 September 2017.

Describing 2017 as a “challenging trading year”, the company attributed its decline in profits to increasing competition and costs. Turnover also declined by 2% to £138.2m.

The chain’s EBITDA fell to £6.5m from £13.2m in the previous year. Carluccio’s also saw a small fall in revenue to £138.2m from previous year revenue of £140.9m.

In May, the chain entered a company voluntary agreement (CVA), which saw it close 34 of its underperforming and loss-making sites. Yesterday (5 July), the company announced that it would receive £10m of new funding from majority shareholder Landmark Group.

The money is expected help to “revitalise” 60 of its restaurants as well as go towards refreshing the brand standards and on-going food development. Carluccio’s is being assisted through its CVA by auditors KPMG.

Carluccio’s CEO Mark Jones, said: “While these numbers are somewhat historical now, the decrease in underlying profit last year did graphically illustrate the requirement for us to create a more focused group, to divest from loss-making sites, and to invest significantly in our core business, and I am pleased to be able to report this progress in the intervening period.”