LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - TGI Fridays owner Hostmore said on Friday that it had reduced its annual losses in a "transitional" year.

In the year to the end of December, losses from operations narrowed to £11.1m from £95.8m in 2022. However, revenue declined to £190.7m from £195.7m a year earlier.

The company pointed to macroeconomic uncertainty and "fluctuating" consumer behaviour. It said it was a year of two halves, with the first half being a transitional period focusing on senior leadership changes and full operational turnaround, while the second showed a "significant" profit improvement.

Hostmore said the positive Christmas trading period was a further improvement on this trend, with like-for-like revenue up 4% compared to December 2022.

LFL revenue in the first quarter was down 7%, however, mainly due to reduced consumer demand across the sector.

Chair Stephen Welker said: "2023 was a transitional year for Hostmore during which we successfully implemented a turnaround of the business.

"The turnaround reduced costs, deferred cash outlays for new store openings, and improved the operations of our existing stores, while introducing a revised capital allocation policy to focus on high ROI organic growth initiatives and prioritising the full repayment of our borrowings and initiating shareholder distributions."

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