// Cake Box half-year profits surge 27% to £1.7m
// Half-year revenue up 5.8% to £8.8m
// Cake Box opened 5 new sites and now operates from 122 franchise stores in the UK
Cake Box has recorded a big jump in profits for the first six months of its financial year.
The cake retailer said that pre-tax profit had reached £1.7 million over the period, a 27 per cent increase on the same half-year period in 2018.
Meanwhile revenue grew 5.8 per cent to £8.8 million, in line with expectations flagged in a trading update earlier this month.
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The news prompted shares to spike by 6.5 per cent to 148p on Monday morning as the retailer said it would increase dividends by 33 per cent to 1.6p per share.
Cake Box said it has already opened five new franchise stores so far this half, including a Cardiff store.
It now has 122 franchise stores around the country.
“We have added nine stores to our portfolio during the half year, have a good pipeline for the remainder of the second half and are on track to achieve our store openings target for the year,” chief executive Sukh Chamdal said.
“Trading during the first eight weeks of the second half has been encouraging and we have already opened five new stores, including our first in Wales.”
In the last six months Cake Box has rolled out red velvet cakes in its stores, and is currently trialling cupcakes.
“During the period our focus has been on the consolidation of our strategy as we continue to grow the business through rolling out new stores, improving our customer offer and expanding our customer base, which is attracted to our unique, egg-free proposition,” Chamdal said.
“Our continued momentum has again led to a good financial performance during the half.”
Cake Box is known for baking its cakes to a strict lacto-vegetarian diet, with no meat products or eggs, helping it cater to religious communities and those making dietary choices.
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