Coffee Republic PLC, the independent coffeehouse franchisor and operator, announces a trading update in advance of its AGM today.
The business now operates in 195 outlets both in the UK and Internationally. Of the 184 UK outlets 19 are company run, 51 are franchises and 114 are concessions.
In the first six months of the year, network like for like sales are down 0.2% (excluding those bars recently returned to company ownership), reflecting a toughening climate; more aggressive sales and marketing activity has begun to reverse that trend and total network sales growth in the UK is now 20%, driven by newly opened bars.
Operating losses to the end of August have reduced by almost 40% compared to prior year, driven by increased franchise income, the success of the Cineworld concession deal and increased control over head office cost, and the Board expects that the half year results will reflect this improvement.
The board continues to focus on driving the business both in the UK and internationally, and pipelines in both areas remain encouraging despite the general economic climate.
