Wagamama reports UK like-for-likes up 7.1%: Wagamama has reported UK like-for-like sales rose 7.1% in the 12 weeks to 5 November 2017, the second quarter of its fiscal year 2018. Group turnover increased 14.4% to £70.6m while adjusted Ebitda was up 1.8% to £11.1m. UK turnover rose 13.4% to £67.6m. The number of UK restaurants has increased to 128. The company said it had now traded ahead of the competition consistently for more than three years (183 weeks) and its UK like-for-like growth was 8.1% higher than the growth of companies in the Coffer Peach Tracker. Two new restaurants opened in the quarter, in Bracknell in the UK and East Village in New York. Meanwhile, it opened a site in Reigate early in the third quarter. New franchise restaurants opened in Madrid (two sites) and Doha. A total of 12 refurbishments were completed in the quarter, bringing Kaizen design and new covers where possible to the existing estate. Four further refurbishments are under way in the third quarter. Turnover in the US increased 53.3% to £2.3m reflecting growth in like-for-like sales and the opening of three new restaurants in New York City and Boston since the previous year. Turnover from its international franchised restaurants business increased 16.7% to £0.7m. Gross margin increased to £29.9m in the quarter compared with £27.0m the previous year. The company said the growth in the estate and the like-for-like sales growth were the primary causes of this increase. This further included the impact of supply chain and National Living Wage cost increases. Administrative expenses before exceptional items increased 18.4% to £24.9m. This was primarily due to overhead costs and depreciation commensurate with the addition of new restaurants in addition to the increase in central overhead expenses, again reflecting the increase in estate size. This included the impact of business rates increases and its decision to invest in maintenance to ensure “our estate is in the best position possible for the upcoming peak trading period”. Chief executive Jane Holbrook said: “We are delighted with the 7.1% UK like-for-like sales growth in the quarter. Such strong revenue performance has seen the gap between us and the competition continue to widen. This robust performance has allowed us to invest in our people, product and property in the UK and US, so that we are in the best possible position for long-term success. We are also delighted to have grown our underlying Ebitda year-on-year. We remain relatively cautious about the immediate outlook given market conditions, but with our successful and growing UK and international footprint, combined with our consistent performance and strong cash generation, we remain confident in our ability to identify opportunities and manage through the challenges ahead.”