Tortilla H1 revenue slips 5.9% over dual delivery strategy

The group said the benefits from the new strategy are slower than originally anticipated.

Tortilla Mexican Grill PLC reported that like-for-like revenue was down 5.9% due to the strategic decision in the first quarter to condense to a dual delivery platform to improve profit conversion and increase focus on in store revenue.

Previously, the group ended its partnership with Deliveroo, deciding instead to concentrate on Uber Eats and Just Eat,

However, the Tortilla said that it saw     improved profitability on delivery sales following switch to dual platform.

Adjusted EBITDA is at £1.8m, in line with H1 last year despite revenue drop. The group also said that the early results are encouraging, however, the benefits of their new initiatives like the dual delivery strategy will be slower than originally anticipated, and this combined with an ongoing challenging trading environment, means the Board now expects Adjusted EBITDA (excluding the recent Fresh Burritos acquisition) to be £5m for 2024.  

A revised combined outlook, including Fresh Burritos, will now be Adjusted EBITDA of £4.5m and the year-end net debt position is expected to correspondingly increase to £7.5m.

|In the first half of 2024, we have significantly improved the quality of our food and are driving exciting innovation with our new Food Director, James Garland now onboard.  We have accelerated the deployment of kiosk-ordering technology and will be launching our new loyalty platform at the beginning of August.  Whilst the timing of these initiatives has been slower than planned, the early signs are positive, and we look forward to updating shareholders on progress in September,” Andy Naylor, CEO at Tortilla said.