Now Bella Italia and La Tasca rack up £60m loss

THE owner of Bella Italia and La Tasca became the latest High Street eateries to rack up huge losses as it plunged £60.5m into the red.

The Casual Dining Group, which also owns Latin American chain Las Iguanas, saw losses widen 20pc in the 12 months to May 28 from £48.4m a year earlier.

Its bottom line was hit by exceptional costs of £24.4m which included £2.5m to cover redundancies and administrative costs. Stripping out the cost of tax and one-off expenses, the company’s losses shrunk from £8.1m to £5m.

It is a difficult time for the restaurant sector as food chains battle with a rising minimum wage, soaring business rates and tighter consumer spending. Jamie’s Italian, Prezzo and Strada have all been forced to close outlets, with Byron and Carluccio’s facing a similar fate. Sales at the Casual Dining Group edged up 2.2pc to £329m.

Steve Richards, chief executive of Casual Dining Group, said: ‘Against a challenging backdrop, we have maintained progression while further reducing discounting.’

He added: ‘At the same time, we have been very conservative with our retail price increases as we continue to offer best value to our customers.’