Last checked at 
(Alliance News) - Cake Box Holdings PLC on Monday said returns from franchises and continued expansion into new areas in the UK has led to a strong set of inaugural full year results.
The company, which operates a chain of eggless cake shops, recorded pretax profit of GBP3.8 million for the year ended March 31, up from GBP3.3 million in the year ago period, on a revenue of GBP16.9 million and GBP12.7 million, respectively. Margins improved to 45.7% from 42.9%.
The company opened 27 new franchise stores in 2019 financial versus 23 stores a year ago. As at March 31, Cake Box operated 113 franchise stores.
Franchisee total turnover for 2019 financial year grew by 18% to GBP30.7 million from GBP25.9 million a year ago. Like-for-like sales growth in franchise stores stood at 6.5% versus 15.0%.
Cake Box said it is pleased with trading so far in 2020 financial year and has strong pipeline of new store openings. It remains on track of opening six new franchise stores per quarter.
"The new financial year has started well and we have already opened four new franchise stores, with two more expected to open before the end of June 2019. The Group is well placed for further progress and the Board is confident of another successful year of growth," said Chief Executive Officer Sukh Chamdal.
The company, which listed on the AIM market in June 2018, proposed a final dividend of 2.4 pence per share, giving a total payout of 3.6p for the full year.
Shares in Cake Box were trading 2.6% higher at 170.75 pence each on Monday.
