Loungers hails ‘record’ sales and openings in FY22 

Loungers has welcomed a year of “record” sales and openings ahead of its results for the year ended 17 April, 2022, after it maintained a “significant outperformance” of the market despite the effects of the pandemic.

Whilst trading in December was subdued in light of Omicron, the operator of 164 Lounge cafe-bars and 31 Cosy Club restaurant-bars said it “recovered strongly” post-Christmas, delivering a record total revenue of £237.3m for the financial year.

The group said it also delivered “very strong” like-for-like sales over the 48 weeks to 17 April 2022, with sales rocketing by 22.1% on a three-year basis. 

Over the course of the financial year the group also opened a record 27 new sites, comprising 26 Lounges and one Cosy Club, taking the portfolio to 195 sites.  

In light of the group’s strong performance post-Christmas, it expects profitability for the financial year to be slightly ahead of market expectations. In addition, underlying net debt has fallen from £44.9m at 18 April, 2021 to £2.6m at 17 April, 2022.    

Nick Collins, CEO, said: “I am delighted with trading in both the Lounge and Cosy Club brands over the financial year. We continued to deliver underlying, volume driven like-for-like sales growth despite the uncertain consumer backdrop and we are well-positioned to increase share in the coming months through our new site opening programme and value for money offer. 

“It has been a phenomenal effort from our team to open 27 fantastic new sites in what has at times been a difficult year. The new site pipeline is in excellent shape and we are optimistic as we look ahead to FY23.”