Mexican-style casual dining chain, Wahaca has posted its annual results, for the year ending 25 June 2017, showing a pre-tax loss after the norovirus outbreak.
There was pre-tax loss of £4,738,000 compared with a profit of £640,000 the year before. Gross profit margin fell to 39.9% compared with 44.5% the year before.
The outbreak meant that nine branches were closed, however the company was then able to recover from this, with a turnover rise to £46,557,000 in comparison to £46,376,000 for the previous year.
The directors stated, “The variances to the same period last year were impacted predominately as a result of a one-off event in October that forced us to shut a number of our sites on a temporary basis.
'While this had a significant impact on our trading performance for the financial year relative to the previous year, the business has managed to recover from the aftermath of the event.
'The exceptional costs of £0.7m in the year were predominately as a result of the October event. The group plans to develop growth through the opening of new sites as well as continually driving performance on the existing estate.”
Wahaca, which opened launched in 2007, currently operates 26 sites in the UK.