Wed 3rd Feb 2016 - Bill’s reports full year turnover hits £91.7m, new £37m facility Bill’s reports full year turnover hits £91.7m, new £37m facility: Bill’s Restaurants, owned by Richard Caring, has reported that turnover rose 70.2% to £91.7m in the year to 2 August 2015. Adjusted Ebitda before pre-opening and exceptional costs increase 63.1% from £7.7m to £12.1m. Pre-tax profit rose to £6,672, 756 from £3,977, 326 the year before. The company has agreed a new £37m facility with its bank Barclays. The company stated: “The last year has seen Bill’s continue to go from strength to strength, continuing to deliver ambitious expansion plans whilst experiencing like for like growth across our existing restaurant estate. This is largely due to the dedicated and committed teams that we have working across the country to ensure the success of the business. We are very proud of the Bill’s team and believe that their passion and enthusiasm helps to set us apart from the rest. We believe that as an employer we owe it to our staff to develop their potential and help to achieve their ambitions. We have invested heavily in our training and support functions during the year, with a fully integrated staff communication and training application due to be launched into the business early in 2016. We opened 24 new restaurants during the year in Liverpool, Farnham, Cheltenham, Camberley, Bluewater, Battersea, Newbury, Watford, Berkhamsted, Woking, Welwyn Garden City, Durham, Leicester, Peterborough, Maidstone, Cardiff Bay, Glasgow, Marlow, Reigate, Baker Street, Sheffield, Gloucester Quays, Taunton and Colchester. At the end of the year we had four sites under construction in Muswell Hill, Witney, Leeds and High Wycombe. These sites have now opened, as have sites in Trafford Centre, Bishop’s Stortford and Birmingham Bullring. At the date of this report, we are undertaking construction work on a site in Greenwich. The new sites opened in the year have generally traded above our expectations and helped to deliver our best trading results to date. Turnover in the period has increased by 70.2% (£37.8m) from £53.9m to £91.7m, as a result of new sites, the full year effect of sites opened in the prior year, and continued like for like growth from the existing estate. Gross profit margins have also improved during the period, from 73.9% in the prior year to 74.3%, primarily as a result of changes in the overall sales mix. Adjusted Ebitda before pre-opening and exceptional costs has increased during the year by 63.1% (£4.8m) from £7.7m to £12.5m, again primarily as a result of the full year effect of sites opening in the prior year and like for like improvements across the existing estate. The adjusted Ebitda margin has seen a marginal decline in the period, from 14.2% to 13.6%. During the period, the group agreed a £37m facility with a new banking partner, HSBC. This funding ensures that the group has the available resources to continue with our expansion plans for the business over the forthcoming two years.”