New product lines, a rapidly expanding estate and huge demand for cakes all contributed towards excellent growth in the six months to March at Patisserie Holdings (CAKE), owner of the Patisserie Valerie café chain.
Analysts have put Patisserie in a peer group that includes Starbucks, Café Nero and Costa, but strong appetite for the company's premium, higher margin products sets it apart from those competitors, and helped to push revenues by 18.8 per cent to £28.9m. That growth was supported by good sales of the café's new winter menu and afternoon tea products, and the January launch of a popular online "create-a-cake" feature.
Plans to open 20 new stores this financial year are on track, and management says it will target a number of cities where the company currently has no presence. Most will be Valerie stores, though trading has been strong at the company’s other brands, including the Druckers and Baker & Spice café chains. Philpotts, the sandwich retailer Patisserie acquired in 2014, performed ahead of expectations, contributing £1.3m pre-tax profit on sales of £5m.
Management has not yet decided the maiden dividend size it expects to pay later this year, though analysts' forecasts range from 2.5p to 3.7p. Canaccord Genuity has also slightly upgraded its full-year adjusted pre-tax profit and EPS forecasts to £14.5m and 11.4p, from previous expectations of £14.2m and 11p.
| PATISSERIE HOLDINGS (CAKE) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 293p | MARKET VALUE: | £293.0m | |
| TOUCH: | 287-293p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 295p | LOW: 184p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 60p* | NET CASH: | £3.0m | |
| Half-year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 35.7 | 4.8 | 4.79 | nil |
| 2015 | 43.7 | 7.0 | 5.50 | nil |
| % change | +22 | +45 | +15 | - |
Ex-div:- Payment:- *Includes intangible assets of £17.9m, or 18p a share | ||||
