Wasabi sees strong growth in travel hub locations and across grocery business

The sushi and bento brand says it ‘built on its strong prior-year performance’, which saw the group return to profit , in 2024 with its restaurant division ‘performing well despite a challenging market environment’ and its expanding grocery business delivering ‘exceptional growth’. For the 52-week period ended 28 December 2024, Wasabi reported a 1.2% increase in turnover, rising from £120.3m to £121.7m. EBITDA before exceptional costs and other income increased by 61.1% to £7.4m (2023: £4.6m), which the group attributed to its continued emphasis on internal processes, productivity and cost control. Pre-tax profit for the period, however, fell from £7.7m to £2.2m. Over the year the group closed one restaurant, reducing its estate from 41 sites to 40, and expanded its omnichannel presence through the expansion of its retail range into Morrisons and Co-op supermarkets. Going forwards, the group says it is ‘committed to investing in growing the Wasabi brand and business’ including through further franchise partnerships following the opening of its first franchised restaurant within London Luton Airport earlier this month . “So far in 2025 there have been significant investments in manufacturing automation, restaurant refurbishments and IT infrastructure,” writes Henry Birts, Wasabi CEO. “The company is well-advanced in building a strong new pipeline of restaurants across the UK and is exploring opportunities to work with franchise partners to accelerate this growth.” Birts adds that the group has continued to see a ‘strong performance’ in 2025 that includes an improvement in revenue, EBITDA and margin performance. Wasabi also operates four locations in New York, the performance of which was not included in the group’s UK results.

Wasabi sees strong growth in travel hub locations and across grocery business

Wasabi saw pre-tax profits tumble in its most recent financial results despite reporting a strong performance across both its UK restaurant division and grocery business.

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