Pizza Express facing talks over £1bn debts
Pizza Express has reportedly hired financial advisers as it prepares for talks with its creditors over its huge debts.
The group's most recent accounts show the chain's total debt was £1.12 billion at the end of last year – working out at £1.79 million a restaurant.
Of that, £655.6 million is due to be repaid by August 2022 – a large chunk of it in August 2021.
The chain, which was acquired by Chinese private equity firm Hony Captial in 2014, is thought to have struggled with rising costs and a tough UK trading environment.
It comes just months after the UK lost Jamie's Italian from the high street.
Pizza Express has stores in Shrewsbury, Telford, Merry Hill shopping centre in Brierley Hill, Walsall and Stourbridge.
In recent years Pizza Express has looked to expand beyond its core UK restaurant business – by partnerships with supermarkets and Deliveroo in the UK and by looking at growth overseas.
It's also trying hard to beat the high street slowdown with new menu ranges, new restaurant designs and even opening new sites.
According to its most recent results, profits fell 7.7 per cent in the first half of the year, but still came in at to £32.4 million as sales rose slightly.
Pizza Express chief executive Jinlong Wang said: “Intense competition in the casual dining sector encourages innovation and we are constantly seeking ways to increase appeal to new and existing customers.
“Looking ahead, whilst we expect both the UK and Ireland and International markets to remain challenging, we are confident in our ability to successfully appeal to customers and believe that we will continue to deliver a resilient performance across the remainder of 2019.”
