The Mexico-inspired restaurant group reported a pre-tax profit of £725,00 for the 53 weeks ended 30 June 2024, turning around a loss of £720,000 the year before.
Turnover rose marginally over the period from £39.7m to £40.5m, with the group noting the impact of ‘ongoing external headwinds’ including the cost of living crisis.
Despite this the group’s directors ‘remain pleased’ about how business has performed, with the gross profit margin rising from 45.3% to 45.8%.
Adjusted operating profit for the period fell from £3.1m to £1.7m, though this does not include a £3.4m settlement of an insurance claim linked to business interruption during the Covid-19 pandemic.
In April 2024 the group returned to the expansion trail for the first time in six years with the launch of Wahaca Paddington.
Writing in the accounts, co-founder Mark Selby, who originally launched Wahaca with Thomasina Miers back in 2007, said the Paddington restaurant had ‘surpassed financial expectations’ and received ‘consistently excellent customer feedback’ since its launch, and the group was ‘continuing to look for new site openings’ as a result.
“Our focus for the last year has been re-defining out brand around our customer’s needs and this focus has strengthened our guest satisfaction metrics, putting the business in a good position to be able to drive organic growth as we focus on building brand awareness through our digital marketing strategy,” he added.
Post year end, Selby confirmed that DF Tacos, the group’s fast food offshoot, had ceased trading due to ‘unavoidable cost pressures’ and ‘weaker trader than expected’.
DF Tacos, which operated both bricks and mortar restaurants and food hall concessions around London, is understood to have closed all its sites in February this year having traded for a decade.
Wahaca operates 14 restaurants under its core brand. The bulk of its estate is based in London, but the group also has sites in Brighton, Cardiff and Edinburgh.