Caffè Nero trading at 90% of pre-Covid levels

Caffè Nero has revealed it is trading at over 90% of pre-pandemic levels in the UK as sales continue to recover.

The coffee chain reported sales of £135.7m between June and November 2021, a 211% increase on the same period in 2020, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of £29.4m.

Sales in December and January were resilient at 82% of 2019 levels, despite the impact of the Omicron variant of coronavirus on trade. Since the lifting of restrictions in January trading has reached over 90% of pre-Covid levels.

The company said its delivery arm through UberEats generated £3.4m of revenue during the six months to November 2021, while its Coffee At Home retail range, which is sold in supermarkets and via Amazon, achieved sales of 1.3m.

Caffè Nero said its retail and delivery channels combined were on target to generate over £10m of incremental revenue for the business in its current financial year.

The group reported a loss of £16.6m for the financial year ending May 2021, following the impact of lockdown restrictions.

Gerry Ford, chief executive of Caffè Nero, said: "There is no doubt the pandemic and government enforced lockdowns had a significant impact on our business.

"The figures from our FY21 accounts show just how damaging these limitations on our trading were. We were in survival mode throughout the period. But a loss for that year of £16.6m was an improvement on the previous year, and there were signs of strengthening towards the end of the year.

"We entered FY21 with a bit of momentum, having been cash positive each month in the previous six months. Once the government restrictions came off in July 2021, our business was able to strengthen and push forward. Our first-half of FY21 reflected how resilient our core business is if we are allowed to trade with few restrictions."

Earlier this month Caffè Nero agreed to acquire SA Brain's remaining 33% stake in Coffee#1, having originally bought 67% of the coffee chain in 2019 from the Welsh brewer.

Coffee#1 operates 102 stores across Wales, the Midlands and Southern England and the brand has been managed by Caffè Nero since 2019.

Caffè Nero trades from over 650 stores in the UK and employs over 5,500 people. It operates from over 1,000 sites across 10 countries worldwide.