Companies: CARL   

Carluccio’s, the group of Italian restaurants with food shops attached, has cooked up an appetising pre-close update for investors for the year to September.

The company, which joined AIM in December at 94.5p, said stores performed well during the year, and investors can expect a 24% top-line leap when the figures are announced this December. The board also boasted pre-tax profits would come in slightly ahead of its forecasts.

Five new openings were carried out during the financial year – Chiswick, Brighton and Richmond among them – in line with targets, and taking the total number of trading stores to 27. A new store in the West End opens in November, the first opening of the new financial year, and a site has also been secured in Walton-on-Thames.

For September 2006, James Dawson at Charles Stanley predicts a 20% profits push to £4.2m, giving earnings growth of 21% to 5.54p. Encouraging, yes, but the shares are still swapping hands for a full forward multiple of 29 times, and trade on a stiff PEG ratio of 1.4. For September 2007, shareholders might expect near-20% profits growth again, though the prospective multiple still only drops to 27 times estimated earnings for the year.

Growth Company Investor believes this is a well-managed venture delivering on all IPO promises and operating in a fast-growing market niche. Nevertheless, this sector is sensitive to fickle consumer tastes, and the shares now look decidedly toppy. If you hold shares, top-slice.