Shares in pizza and pasta restaurant operator Prezzo fell on the release of its first annual results since its £1.3m flotation in March 2002. In an interesting year to December 2002, Prezzo swung from profits of £94,000 to an £86,000 pre-tax loss, on sales up from £1.1m to £3.8m. The cost of those sales burgeoned from £958,000 to £3.7m, as Prezzo opened eleven restaurants, taking its total to 15, all trading under the Prezzo, Jonathans and Anyway brands. More than half opened late in the year, hindering the bottom line with pre-opening and infrastructure costs. Since year end, a Prezzo has opened in Alton, management is working on another three in Newbury, Wokingham and Horsham, and three more have been contracted. Chairman Michael Carlton concedes further finance will be needed to expand the business later down the line - almost £2.2m cash was left at year-end, though amounts due to creditors within a year had risen from £530,000 to £1.9m. Understandably, no dividend is proposed. Down from a 116.5p 52-week high (it was launched at 50p), Prezzo is still worth holding since there's significant involvement from the Kaye family, the canny people behind the highly-regarded Ask Central.

Prezzo	AIM	£57.9m	25.25p	0.00p
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