Higher property costs and harsh trading conditions have led to pre-tax losses deepening at the owner of Cafe Rouge and Bella Italia.
Rising rents and business rates pushed up property costs at Casual Dining Group at a time which the company described as “challenging” as lower consumer confidence levels hit spending.
The company, which also owns the Las Iguanas chain, suffered a pre-tax loss of £60m in the year to May 28 2017, up nearly a fifth from £52m the prior year. This was in spite of total sales rising 10% to £329m and being up 2.2% on a like-for-like basis against flat figures for the wider industry.
