http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=aHAELKcF_.RM&refer=homeGordon Ramsay Holdings Ltd. said the chef's business strengthened last year, building on gains that brought a return to profit a year earlier.
The gains were reported as the company filed its accounts -- almost 16 months late -- for the 12 months ended Aug. 31, 2006. Net income was 112,103 pounds ($173,614) compared with a loss of 2.46 million pounds in 2005, when earnings were held back by startup costs, Ramsay said. Sales rose 21 percent to 38.1 million pounds. Gross profit jumped 30 percent to 17.6 million pounds.
``There has been a significant return to profitability,'' the company said today in an e-mailed statement. ``Already, it is clear that the 2007 results, which will be filed in December 2008, will show a continued and dramatic strengthening of the group.''
The British chef, best known for his appearances in television shows such as ``Hell's Kitchen,'' is expanding his business worldwide, with new restaurants in Los Angeles and at Heathrow Airport's Terminal Five. He has opened two new London venues -- Murano and York & Albany -- in the past two months.
There have been setbacks, too. The company's restaurant at the Connaught Hotel has closed and the partnership with chef Marcus Wareing at the Berkeley ended, resulting in the closure of Petrus. The company said today it is in ``advanced negotiations'' to reopen Petrus in Knightsbridge in April 2009.
Highest-Earning
Ramsay will earn between 12 million pounds and 15 million pounds this year from his TV shows and other work outside the kitchen, the Evening Standard reported, citing his father-in-law, Chris Hutcheson, a director of Gordon Ramsay Holdings. That will make him the world's highest-earning chef, according to Hutcheson.
Hutcheson said revenue from the Ramsay empire should reach 100 million pounds by 2010. He said that apart from a slump in takings at the Narrow pub, and a five percent drop in private- dining bookings, Ramsay's eateries are riding out the economic slowdown.
The loss in 2005 followed the waiving of 3.1 million pounds in loans to directors, including 2.6 million pounds to Ramsay. The accounts show that in May 2008 the company agreed a 10.5 million loan and overdraft from Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.
Ramsay's spokeswoman, Jo Barnes, said that the filing was late because of the appointment of a new financial director and auditors and complicated personal tax issues. She didn't elaborate. The accounts name the auditors as Jeffreys Henry LLP.
Ramsay and Hutcheson were unavailable for comment. Last year's accounts should be filed by Nov. 26, according to the Companies House Web site, which doesn't yet confirm receipt of the filing for 2005-2006.
