Upper Crust and Caffe Ritazza owner SSP has launched a plan to cut costs and said it would postpone the flotation of its Indian business due to market woes.
The group, which runs food outlets at travel locations such as airports and train stations, said it was launching a “substantial”, group-wide, cost-cutting overhaul throughout the next six months amid a more uncertain economic outlook.
SSP signalled potential job cuts under the plan, as it said it would “scale back our support costs” to “reduce duplication and complexity”.
It declined to comment on the possible jobs impact, but said it would also be looking to make savings through other efforts including supply chains, menu changes and staff rota management.
The group said the move comes amid a “heightened level of uncertainty” across some travel markets, in particular in North America due to recent “geopolitical events”.
“We believe it is prudent to plan for a degree of ongoing uncertainty of demand through the second half,” it added.
Turbulent stock market conditions in India have also seen it put back the planned listing of Travel Food Services, which it runs with K Hospitality in India.
In the UK, where it runs 55 franchised Marks & Spencer outlets, the group said recent trading had seen like-for-like sales rise 10% in the six weeks to May 11 despite a “modest” impact from the M&S cyber attack disruption.
Patrick Coveney, chief executive of SSP Group, said: “We recognise the importance of driving enhanced performance, and we are executing against our agenda to achieve this.
“Our accelerated actions include a decisive turnaround plan for our Continental European business, a programme to deliver the full benefits of recent strategic and capital investments and a further step up in initiatives to deliver cost efficiencies.”
Half-year results on Tuesday showed underlying operating profits lifted 20% to £45 million in the six months to the end of March.
On a statutory basis, it swung to a pre-tax loss of £37 million from profits of £13 million a year earlier.
