Revenue across the group’s entire estate, including international territories, for the 52-week period ended 29 December 2024 was £442.1m, down from 454.6m the year before, with a decline in like-for-like sales of 3%.
Adjusted group EBITDA fell from £52.3m to £49.4m, with the adjusted EBITDA margin declining by 0.2 points, which was attributed largely to the decline in sales and offset by ‘strong cost management’.
In the UK and Ireland, the group’s primary market where it operates 360 restaurants, adjusted EBITDA fell from £50.8m to £46.6m with the margin decreasing from 12.1% to 11.5%.
Noting the ‘challenging macroeconomic environment’ in the UK and Ireland, the group said: “There has been continued consumer caution driven by economic uncertainty and the lasting impacts of the ‘cost of living’ crisis, coupled with cost inflation across food, labour and central costs.”
Over the year Pizza Express opened six new company-owned restaurants – two in the UK and four in Hong Kong.
However, it also closed four company-owned restaurants in Hong Kong, as well as one in the UK.
The group also opened six new franchise restaurants across the UK, India, Singapore and Saudi Arabia.
A further five franchise restaurants in Singapore, Macau, India, Kuwait and Indonesia closed over the period.
At the end of the year the group operated 384 company-owned restaurants and 78 franchise restaurants.
It also launched a new grab and go concept during the year called Pizza Express Pod, but that is excluded from the number of sites.
Total loss after adjusting items and tax for the period was £31.8m, which compared to a £7.5m loss the year before.
This included a net charge of property, plant and equipment, right of use assets and intangible impairments.
Looking ahead, Pizza Express said it will continue with its ‘substantial refurbishment programme’ of its UK estate having overhauled 74 sites in 2024.
The group added that it continues to pursue franchise opportunities ‘in markets where it believes working with a local partner will enable the business to grow sucessfully’.
It has already opened new sites in Jeddah and Riyadh airports this year, and is set to make its US debut in Florida in the coming months.