Nando's looks to expand in Ireland despite reduced profits due to cost pressures

Gordon Deegan

The Irish arm of fast casual restaurant operator, Nando's is looking to expand here and is currently looking for sites to open more restaurants here.

That is according to new accounts for Nando’s Chickenland Ireland Ltd which show that pre-tax profits this year declined by 16 per cent to €4.7 million due to inflation and costs pressures.

The decrease in profit came as revenues rose by 11 per cent from €30.7 million to €34.2 million in the 12 months to the end of February 25th this year.

The directors state that “the company is currently looking for potential sites to open more restaurants in the Republic of Ireland”.

The directors state that in the first quarter of the financial year February 2025, "sales continued to grow, and we have been extremely encouraged by customer demand, nevertheless cost inflation remains at elevated levels”.

The directors state that the ongoing impact of heightened commodity prices, the current geo-political climate and the impact on the global economy continued decade high inflation levels have seen significant cost challenges in the market.

The directors state that the company is actively managing the impact of cost pressures through various initiatives, "however we expect these factors to serve as a significant drag on our performance in the current financial year”.

They further state that the company’s strategy through the period is to continue to grow in terms of restaurant numbers, profitability, and market share.

They state that to drive profitability and market share, the company will continue to focus on existing locations and develop opportunities for like-for-like growth.

The company recorded operating profits of €5.9 million and interest payments of €1 million along with a foreign exchange loss of €200,000 resulted in the pre-tax profit of €4.7 million.

The pre-tax profit this year takes account costs of €3.3 million.

Staff numbers this year increased from 485 to 508 as staff costs rose from €9.9 million to €10.9 million.

Pay to directors last year totalled €200,000. The firm recorded a post tax profit of €3 million after incurring a corporation tax charge of €800,000

Accumulated profits at the end of February this year totalled €28.4 million while the firm’s cash funds increased from €18.7 million to €19.7 million.