Hartford Group PLC - Interim Results
28 Octobre 1999 - 12:16PM
UK Regulatory
RNS No 7635d
HARTFORD GROUP PLC
28 October 1999
HARTFORD GROUP PLC
Interim results for the six months to 27 June 1999
Hartford Group PLC ("Hartford") is the rapidly growing owner, developer and
operator of fine dining restaurants. Hartford currently operates six
restaurants in London.
HIGHLIGHTS
* Turnover on continuing activities of #3,047,444 (1998: #867,943)
* Pre-tax loss on continuing activities of #56,302 (1998: #47,711 loss).
The 1999 figures include central costs for both Hartford Group Plc and
Montana Plc
* Merger with Montana Plc completed in September
* Raised #3.5m through institutional placement
* Secured long term debt facility in October
* Seventh restaurant "Utah" opening in Wimbledon in November
Nigel Wray, Chairman, said:
"We are greatly encouraged by the Montana merger which brings to Hartford a
complementary restaurant concept based on neighbourhood fine dining that has
already proved its roll-out potential with its five existing sites.
Kevin Finch, as Group Chief Executive and Stephen Thomas, Chief Executive of
Luminar plc, as a non-executive Director, will strengthen the Board and,
facilitated by the monies raised in the institutional placing, the Company is
focused on expanding the concept. The merger will transform the Company's
growth potential and enable us to look confidently towards the future."
28 October 1999
ENQUIRIES:
Hartford plc
Kevin Finch, Chief Executive Tel: (0171) 313 8100
Nigel Wray, Chairman
College Hill Tel: (0171) 457 2020
Giles Cooper
Chairman's Statement
I am pleased to announce Hartford Group's interim results. The Company has
gone through enormous change in the last twelve months culminating last month
with the exciting merger with Montana Plc.
The Hartford Group now operates six restaurants which comprise The Pharmacy
Bar & Restaurant in Notting Hill, Montana in Fulham, Dakota in Notting Hill,
Canyon in Richmond, Congress in Westminster and Idaho in Highgate. Current
trading, year to date, for the Group as a whole is encouraging and
profitability for those units trading in 1998 is up by 9%. Like-for-like
sales at Montana and Dakota are up 2%.
Outpatients, the Company's first delicatessen outlet opened in September and
the Company's seventh restaurant, Utah, will open in Wimbledon in November.
Results
The results for the six month period to 27 June 1999 represent the combined
business interests of Hartford Group Plc and Montana Plc, which merged on 3
September 1999. Turnover on continuing activities for the period was
#3,047,440 compared to #867,543 for the comparable period in 1998 and the
small pre-tax loss of #56,302 compares to a #47,711 loss in 1998.
Shareholders should note that the total figures for 1998 are not directly
comparable owing to the substantial changes undergone by the Group.
The comparative figures for continuing activities during the six month period
ending 30 June 1998 include the results of Montana Plc which, at the time,
consisted of only two restaurants, Montana and Dakota. They do not include
any trading activity for The Pharmacy Bar & Restaurant, as this was not
acquired until 25 September 1998.
The figures for the six months ended 27 June 1999 include a full six months
of trading from The Pharmacy, Montana, Dakota and Canyon, three months from
Congress which opened in April, and less than a month from Idaho which opened
in June. Also included are the corporate overheads for both Hartford Group
Plc and Montana Plc.
Dividend
As stated in the Admission Document, dated 10 August 1999, the Board does not
intend to pay a dividend for the foreseeable future since the cash flow
generated will be used to fund the development of additional units.
Management
Your Board is delighted to welcome Kevin Finch as Group Chief Executive and
Stephen Thomas, Chief Executive of Luminar Plc, as a non-executive Director.
Their advice and experience will contribute significantly to the future
development of the Group. Matthew Freud and Nick Leslau continue their
involvement as non-executive Directors. The Board will further be announcing
the appointment of a Finance Director in the near future.
Outlook
The Hartford Directors believe that the recent growth experienced by the
restaurant sector is set to continue for the foreseeable future. In
particular, they consider that the trend towards more frequent eating out in
the UK is moving towards the US model where a greater proportion of consumer
disposable income is spent on dining in restaurants. The Hartford Board
therefore had been eager to expand the Hartford Group for some time and
believe that the Montana merger represents an excellent opportunity to
accelerate its planned growth as well as provide material cost savings and
synergies. The highlights of the Company expansion programme will be:
* Concentration on the expansion of the Montana neighbourhood fine dining
concept
* Targeting a 35% return on capital from this concept
* Focus on deriving margin growth and central cost benefits from the
enlarged group
Since the end of the half year, the Company has merged with Montana Plc,
completed a #3.5m institutional share placement, secured long term borrowing
facilities and completed a strategic review. The Company is now in a position
to accelerate its growth plans in the year 2000 by expanding the Montana
concept of neighbourhood fine dining and will be announcing a number of new
restaurant sites before the end of this year.
Nigel Wray
Chairman
Profit and Loss Account
6 months to Period from 10 Oct 1997 to 30 Jun 1998
27 Jun 1999
Continuing Continuing Discontinued Total
Activities Activities Activities
#'000 #'000 #'000 #'000
Net Turnover 3,047,440 867,943 2,484,721 3,352,664
(Loss) / Profit before tax (56,302) (47,711) 148,050 100,339
Tax (49,000)
Post tax (loss) / Profit
before and after tax (56,302) 51,339
(Loss) / Profit
attributable to (56,302) 51,339
shareholders
Dividends (100,000)
(Loss) / Earnings Per Share
- Basic (0.2p) 0.3p
(Loss) / Earnings Per Share
- Diluted (0.2p) 0.3p
Notes to the Accounts
1. The above results are presented having accounted for the business
combination of Montana Plc and Hartford Group Plc using merger
accounting. Merger accounting requires the results of the entities being
combined together to be reported as if they had always been one entity.
Accordingly, the 1999 results and comparatives represent the combined
results of Montana Plc and Hartford Group Plc.
2. Discontinued activities relate to the activities of David Conrad
(International) Limited and Hartford Leisure Limited, which were
disposed of by Hartford Group Plc on 25 September 1998.
3. The comparative figures for continuing activities include results of
Montana Plc for the six month period, ending 30 June 1998. This
business consisted of two restaurants, Montana and Dakota. The figures
do not include any trading activity for The Pharmacy Bar & Restaurant,
as this was not acquired until 25 September 1998.
4. Based on the results of the group for the period, there is no tax charge
/ (credit).
5. No interim dividend has been declared.
6. The calculation of basic and diluted earnings per share is based on a
loss after taxation for the six months of #56,302 (1998: profit
#51,339), and the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue
during the period of 34,205,310 (1998: 17,264,851).
7. The financial information is unaudited, and does not amount to full
accounts within the meaning of Section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.
Separate statutory accounts for the Hartford Group Plc and Montana Plc
for the periods ending 27 December 1998 and 31 December 1998
respectively, have been filed with the Registrar of Companies, and
received unqualified audit reports, and did not contain a statement
under section 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985.
8. The interim statements have been prepared under the same accounting
policies as the statutory accounts of Hartford Group Plc and Montana
Group Plc for the periods ended 27 December 1998 and 31 December 1999
respectively.
9. The company is well advanced in assessing and dealing with the risks to
our continuing business resulting from the date change to the Year 2000,
and current indications are that the Group should be able to deal with
this problem on a satisfactory basis, without incurring any significant
costs, other than in respect of normal annual updating.
END
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