SSP reports year-on-year revenue up 6% in last eight weeks, full year revenue up 8% to £3.6bn: SSP Group, the UK operator of food and beverage outlets in travel locations worldwide, has said its year-on-year revenue was up 6% in the last eight weeks, after reporting full year revenue was up 8%, to £3.6bn, for the year ending 30 September 2025. The company said: “Since our year-end, trading has gained momentum, with total revenue during the first eight weeks (from 1 October to 25 November) up 6% year-on-year on a constant currency basis. This includes like-for-like growth of 4%, up from 2% in the second half of FY25, most notably driven by improved momentum in North America with like-for-likes of 2% in the eight weeks, up from (2)% in the second half of FY25. While there remains a substantial level of uncertainty in the demand outlook across certain travel markets, the group is well placed to navigate these challenges. The strength of our current trading momentum, together with additional actions taken to drive performance through our ‘Focus 26’ operational plan gives us confidence in delivering towards the upper end of the EPS range referenced at the Q4 Trading Update (i.e. 12.9p - 13.9p at October spot rates), excluding the expected benefit of the share buyback. Furthermore, we expect to improve free cash flow (pre-dividend) to £100m in FY26. In addition, as we tightly manage our capital allocation, we expect further progress in ROCE towards our medium-term target of 20%.” For the full year, revenue of £3.6bn was up 8% (on a constant currency basis), with like-for-like growth of 4% and net gains of 4%. Operating profit was £223m at actual FX rates and £233m on a constant currency basis, up 13% with margin accretion of 30 bps year on year. Free cash flow was £80m (pre-dividend) after £99m working capital inflow and capex of £212m. Net debt/Ebitda was 1.6x, improved from 1.7x in 2024. Pre-tax return on capital employed was 18.7%, up 100bps year on year, with recent acquisitions delivering in line or ahead of plan. A £100m share buyback was initiated in October 2025, while IFRS operating profit was £86m (2024: £206m), reflecting £183m of non-underlying expenses and impairment charges. Chief executive Patrick Coveney said: “We have delivered a resilient financial performance this year, with revenue and EPS up 8% and 25% respectively, on a constant currency basis, and a pivot to positive free cash flow. As a result of our actions in the year including an ongoing focus on cost efficiency, we saw strong trading across three of our four regions. However, we acknowledge there is more to do to strengthen our operational performance, most notably in Continental Europe, where we have now reset our team, model and balance sheet, and have a range of initiatives underway to do so. In addition, we are announcing today the launch of a wide-ranging review of our rail business in Continental Europe. While there remains a degree of macro-economic uncertainty across the world, our focus is on what we can control. We have made an encouraging start to FY26, with like-for-like sales growth now positive in all regions and tracking at 4% year-to-date for the group as a whole. This early momentum, together with the specific actions that we are taking to deliver sustained improvements in profit, cash and return on capital, gives us increasing confidence in our prospects for the coming year.” In the UK and Ireland, SSP revenue was £961.7m (2024: £892.5m), with an operating profit of £86.1m (2024: 73.5m), an underlying operating profit of £90.3m (2024: £79.4m) and a pre-IFRS 16 underlying operating profit of £81.2m (2024: £72.5m). The company said: “First half revenue in the UK of £424.6m increased by 8.5% on a constant currency basis, including like-for-like growth of 7.7% and a contribution of 0.8% from net gains. At actual exchange rates first half revenue increased by 8.3%. The strong first half was driven by growth in the air passenger sector, a strong performance from M&S simply food and a lower incidence of industrial action in the rail sector compared with the previous year. Second half revenue increased by 7.2%, including 5.8% from like-for-like growth and 1.4% from organic net gains. The second half result was disrupted by the M&S cyber-attack during the third quarter yet still achieved 6% like-for-like growth. Since the year end, trading so far in FY26 has been encouraging with sales growing by 8% compared to FY24 on a constant currency basis, including 7% like-for-like growth. In the UK, successful renewal activity included the ongoing rejuvenation of our regional UK Air estate, in particular our units at Newcastle, Liverpool, London City and Birmingham airports. We also won a new contract at Bournemouth airport to become their main food and beverage partner. Other actions to refresh and innovate our offer included the refurbishment of our M&S retail units, including new layouts, merchandising, digital tills, lighting, signage and flooring. Despite the impact of the M&S systems issues, following its cyber incident in the spring, we saw an average 10% sales uplift across these refurbished M&S stores in the year.” Post year end, on 17 October 2025, the group raised €180m via a term loan with two of its existing lending banks to fully repay and cancel the pre-existing loan entered into in 2023. This new loan has a two-year maturity with an option to extend for a further year. 

 

ETM Group reports resilient year, ‘well-positioned for the future’: ETM Group, the 17-strong, London-based operator, has reported a “resilient performance” for the year ending 23 February 2025, with Ebitda of £2.9m up from £2.2m in the prior year and four prime London sites acquired post year end. For the period ended 23 February 2025, the group reported turnover of £29.6m, flat versus £29.6m in 2023/24, which it said was generated despite the macro-economic impacts of the cost-of-living crisis. It said: “Importantly, the business reported strong Ebitda growth for the period of £2.9m (versus £2.2m in 2023/24, up 31.8%) with reductions in site operating costs from implementation of continuous cost improvement plans and significant restructuring savings in central head office costs. Overall, with the well documented headwinds that hospitality businesses have had to and continue to face, the directors are pleased with the results and most importantly are incredibly proud of the team that delivered this result. Their continued strength and resilience along with the consumer demand for the group's brands means that the business continues to be well positioned for the future.” Post year end, the group secured additional funding from Thincats (£5.5m) and additional third-party investment (£1.5m as a convertible loan note), enabling the acquisition of four premium central London sites into the business that “fully complement the existing estate”. The business said: “The acquisition of these sites along with new executive management appointments and proactive cost base adjustments position the group well to adapt to evolving market conditions effectively and continue to improve profitability and long-term growth.” In May, ETM Group paid a total consideration of £4.6m to acquire the key trading assets of Maven Leisure out of administration. It purchased from Maven the leasehold and operational key assets of the London-based Wagtail, Goldwood and Beechwood sites, securing 176 jobs in the process. 

 

NQ64 – current trading good, expects to open one to two new bars next year: NQ64, the immersive retro arcade bar concept, has told Propel that its current trading is “good” and that Christmas bookings are ahead of last year, as it reported a slight increase in turnover in the 12 months to 28 February 2025. The 13-strong company, which opened a site in Nottingham earlier this year, saw revenue for the year climb from £14.3m to £18m, with Ebitda of £3.4m. Its pre-tax loss for the period widened from £509,093 to £1,125,980. During the year, the company, which was founded by Andy Haygarth and Matt Robson, opened a site in Leeds and closed a smaller unit in Liverpool post year end. Haygarth told Propel: “Current trade is good and Christmas bookings are ahead of last year despite the challenges we are all facing at the minute. Our one opening of the year, in Nottingham, opened way ahead of forecast. In the coming year, we expect to open one or two new bars, however, we are waiting for high quality opportunities to present themselves.” In May 2023, NQ64 secured a new £10m facility from ThinCats to support its growth. Propel understands NQ64 secured a further £500,000 of funding through ThinCats last summer.

 

Salt Bae loses bitter trademark battle to ban rival from using the word ‘SALT’: Turkish restauranteur Salt Bae has been rapped by a tribunal and ordered to pay legal costs for attempting to ban a rival from using the word SALT in a two-year legal row. The chef, real name Nusret Gökçe, began legal proceedings against a food company who were applying to trademark the word ‘SALT’ for a burger bar. Lawyers for Salt Bae argued that the new SALT trademarks, accompanied with logos, would clash with his own registered trademark, reports The Daily Mail. The firm ‘Find Salt Owned By Independent Restaurants Management One Person Company’, based in the United Arab Emirates, applied to register the trademarks in September 2023 and February 2024, which were opposed by Nusr-Et's parent firm, Istanbul-based ‘D Et Ve Et Rnleri Gida Pazarlama Ticaret Anonim Sirketi’. As part of its evidence, Nusr-et produced dozens of articles which showed Salt Bae’s popularity and how profits had soared – but also admitting that it had terrible customer reviews, with critic Jay Rayner branding it a “ludicrous restaurant”. His legal team wanted the trademark applications rejected and costs awarded in favour of Nusr-et. But they were castigated by the Intellectual Property Office's hearing officer Suzanne Hitchings for producing evidence “entirely of press of articles” and that “the evidence filed by the opponent” is “unfocused”. In her 21-page report, she claimed that customers do not go to the Nusr-Et restaurant because of the Salt Bae logo. She said: “In this instance, none of the articles actually show ‘Salt Bae’ as a sign being used in trade, but refer to the personality that is Salt Bae as the face behind the restaurant group Nusret UK, and in particular, behind the London restaurant Nusr.Et. I do not question the association between Salt Bae and Nusr.Et, and I would expect consumers who are already aware of the chef's fame to associate one with the other.” Hitchings concluded that the opposition “has failed” and awarded legal costs of £1,600 against Nusr-Et. In October, Propoel reported that Gökçe saw operations at its UK business stabilise in the year ending 31 December 2024 but registered a £6,666,628 impairment against two restaurant closures in the US, which is a wholly owned subsidiary. Turnover at Nusr-Et London in Knightsbridge amounted to £10,068,555 or circa £194,000 a week (2023: £9,333,923 or £180,000 a week) – it was £262,000 a week in 2022 when turnover was £13,643,734. The company saw a pre-tax loss of £5,488,908 compared with a pre-tax profit of £1,685,616 the prior year following the impairment against Nusr-Et US. Post year end, the group closed its Beverly Hills, Dallas and Las Vegas sites, suggesting bigger US losses to come in 2025. The closures leave the group with two US locations, in Miami and New York City. The group, which had seven US locations in 2023, closed its restaurants in Boston and in New York City’s Meatpacking neighbourhood during 2024.