Nightcap PLC on Monday hailed growth in adjusted earnings despite statutory loss widening sharply.

The London-based owner of the Cocktail Club, Adventure Bar and Barrio Familia chains said pretax loss widened to £1.8 million in the six months to December 31 from £930,000 a year prior.

Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation however climbed 20% to £4.9 million from £4.1 million.

Nightcap shares rose 7.6% to 4.52 pence each on Monday afternoon in London.

Revenue jumped 42% to £33.4 million from £23.5 million.

Cost of sales however increased 49% to £7.0 million from £4.7 million, while administrative expenses were 39% higher at £26.5 million compared to £19.1 million.

Further, depreciation costs increased 45% to £3.7 million from £2.5 million, while net finance expenses ballooned to £1.8 million from £835,000.

Meanwhile, Nightcap’s net debt at December 31 was a third higher at £5.6 million compared to £4.2 million nearly a year prior.

Looking ahead, the company reiterated that trading since the start of 2024 has been challenging, reflecting challenges faced by the hospitality sector. Nightcap expects the challenges to continue into the end of the current financial year. Its last financial year ended on July 2, 2023.

Chief Executive Sarah Willingham said: ‘We expect the second half of FY2024 to continue to be uncertain and challenging, but I believe hospitality has gone through the worst of this downturn with many economic indicators showing a likely recovery later on this year. In the meantime, we continue our focus on leading our sector in terms of quality, innovation and training. Our ambition to become a leading company from a digital perspective is gathering pace, with several new systems and integrations launching this quarter.’

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