Tasty site disposals and operational restructure stems losses

Wildwood and Dim T restaurant operator Tasty has reported a reduction in losses after tax to £800,000, having disposed of five sites and restructured its finance and operational teams.

The group, which raised £3.2m through an institutional placing in May, saw revenue drop slightly to £21.1m (compared to £23m in 2018) for the 26 weeks to 30 June 2019. It said that adjusted EBITDA was £100,000.

Three restaurants we sold in the period, while two were sublet, and Tasty said that more sales would be considered. The estate currently stands at 51 Wildwood and six Dim T restaurants.

Chairman Keith Lassman said: "The casual dining market continues to face headwinds and the uncertainty of Brexit means that 2019 remains a challenging year.

"The group's sales performance has been weak despite benefiting from weaker comparatives following last year's extreme weather conditions and the World Cup.

" However, despite sales being down, our adjusted EBITDA performance for the first six months is in line with expectations due to tighter cost control. Over the last 18 months we have made significant changes to the structure of the group including finance and operational team enhancement.

"The changes to the operational structure combined with the group's increased focus on the financial reporting and cost management, has mitigated the impact of the difficult market conditions."