Castano Loungers bar in Ealing
(Picture: Loungers )Bar and restaurant chain Loungers has insisted it is working hard to maintain “value for money principles” in the face of inflationary “inbound cost pressures” that have hit the business from economic headwinds across the hospitality sector.
Despite this, the group that has London venues in Ealing and Wembley said it was pleased to “out-perform” the market as over the half year period to the beginning of October.
The group delivered like for like sales growth of 17% it said in a trading update measured against a comparable six months in pre-pandemic 2019.
The Bristol-headquartered London-listed business said it had shown “consistent strength of performance against a well-documented challenging macroeconomic backdrop” and that it was a testament to the “relevance and resilience” of its brands.
Nick Collins, boss of the group, said: “As our strong sales performance demonstrates, neither uncertainty in respect of the wider UK economy nor consumer attitudes towards discretionary spending have to date impacted our sales.
“We are continuing to benefit from more people staying local, working from home, and supporting their community and high street, which are trends that we believe are here to stay.”
Loungers added that its balance sheet had remained strong with non-property net debt of £9.5 million down from £11.9 million in the same period last year.
Since the start of the financial year the group has opened 11 new sites, comprising eight Lounges and three sister brand Cosy Clubs, taking its portfolio to 206 locations.
Collins added: “We are operating in a particularly inflationary environment and we are working hard to mitigate inbound cost pressures and to maintain the value for money principles that are so important to our customers.”
