PizzaExpress reports £35.1 million in half-year earnings

Industry cost pressures and turbulent weather conditions reportedly affected the pizza chain’s financial performance.

PizzaExpress’ earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down 16.3% to £35.1 million, the pizza chain’s half year results for the 26 weeks ended 1 July 2018 revealed.

They also reported a 2.5% increase in group turnover to £262.8 million, while like-for-like sales were down by 1.1%.

Underlying like-for-like sales grew by 0.9%, which excluded impact from the adverse weather conditions with that figure down at 0.7% if such were included.

Internationally, total sales grew by 10.4% with saw 15 new sites opening despite like-for-like sales falling by 3%.

“The strength of our brand and the quality of our customer experience means PizzaExpress has continued to deliver a resilient performance in the UK & Ireland, despite the widely publicised pressures that continue to impact the UK eating out market,” Jinlong Wang, group chairman and chief executive of PizzaExpress, said.