Wasabi: Sushi restaurant chain sheds jobs as profit slashed
Profit at popular London sushi restaurant chain Wasabi has been slashed as it shed more than 100 jobs during its latest financial year, it has been revealed.
The business has reported a pre-tax profit of £2.2m for 2024, according to new accounts filed with Companies House.
The latest total comes after Wasabi posted a pre-tax profit of £7.7m in 2023.
The new accounts also show that the chain’s headcount reduced in the 12 months from 1,314 to 1,186.
The fall in profit comes as the firm’s turnover edged up from £120.2m to £121.6m during the year.
Wasabi eyeing new UK restaurants
A statement signed off by the board said: “Wasabi UK built on its strong prior-year performance, delivering further sales and profit growth, which in turn generated healthy cashflow to reinvest in the business
“The restaurant division performed well despite a challenging market environment, with particular strong growth in travel hub locations.
“Continued emphasis on internal processes, productivity and cost control supported solid EBITDA [earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation] conversion.
“Our grocery business delivered exceptional growth, driven by the successful Q4 2024 launch of our range in Morrisons and Co-op, alongside continued strong performance in Sainsbury’s and Tesco.”
The business added that so far in 2025 Wasabi has made “significant investments” in its manufacturing automation, restaurant refurbishment and IT infrastructure.
It added that it is “well advanced” in building a “strong new pipeline” of new restaurants across the UK and is “exploring opportunities to work with franchise partners to accelerate this growth”.
Wasabi operates 33 locations in London as well as restaurants in Birmingham, Cambridge, Kent, Leeds, Oxford and one at Luton Airport.
The company was founded in 2003 by Dong Hyun Kim, a South Korean entrepreneur.
Wasabi has been led by chief executive Henry Birts since 2019 while its founded stepped away from operations towards the end of 2021.
Rival Yo! Sushi loses more than £20m
The results for Wasabi come after City PM reported at the start of June that rival Yo! Sushi lost more than £20m in the year its owner was acquired for almost £500m.
The sushi eatery chain reported a pre-tax loss of £22.6m for the 70 weeks to 31 March, 2024, according to delayed accounts filed with Companies House.
The results, which had been due to be submitted by the end of 2024, come after its turnover totalled £138.3m for the same period.
The figures compare to the pre-tax loss of £4.7m and turnover of £84.7m Yo! Sushi reported for the 12 months to 27 November, 2022.