TGI Fridays owner reduced losses in 2023

TGI Fridays parent company Hostmore cut its operational losses from £95.8m in 2022 to £11.1m in 2023, filing show.

During the 52-week trading period ending 31 December, the hospitality operator posted total revenue of £190.7m, 3% down on the previous year.

Hostmore termed FY23 as a “transitional year”, which included the appointment of new senior leadership, implementation of a turnaround plan, and the introduction of revised capital allocation policy.

The first half of the year concentrated on implementing these changes, while profits rose in the second half, with like-for-like Christmas trading improving by 4% compared to 2022.

In September last year, Hostmore revealed it plans to delay new restaurant openings until 2025 as part of a cost reduction programme.

The group’s latest report said this was expected to save a further £4.5m of cash expenditure in FY25.

Stephen Welker, chair of Hostmore, said: “The turnaround reduced costs, deferred cash outlays for new store openings, and improved the operations of our existing stores, while introducing a revised capital allocation policy to focus on high ROI organic growth initiatives and prioritising the full repayment of our borrowings and initiating shareholder distributions.”

Last month, Hostmore agreed to a proposed all-share acquisition of [TGI Fridays Inc] for £177m. The ‘reverse takeover’ would bring together TGI Fridays’ largest franchisee with its global franchisor, creating a combined footprint of 404 franchised and 189 company-operated stores across 44 countries.