SPoT Coffee, a Canada-based coffee shop chain, has registered 29% increase in gross profit to C$3.81m ($3.88m) for fiscal year ended 31 December 2011, compared to C$2.94m ($3m) during the same period in 2010.

Revenue grew to C$5.69m ($5.8m), an increase of 16%, compared to C$4.9m ($5m) during the same period in 2010.

SPoT Coffee managed seven cafés during this quarter including SPoT Hertel, which was inaugurated in November 2011.

The company’s cost of sales were down 4% to C$1.88m ($1.92m) in 2011 against C$1.95m ($1.99m) during the same period in 2010 backed by increasing economies of scale, ordering and waste management efficiencies.

Consolidated net loss rose to C$992,282 ($1.01m) from a loss of C$707,835 ($721,711) in 2010.

The increase in consolidated net loss in fiscal 2011 was due to the overall expansion of the company’s operations along with a rise in the expenses for installation of new café and centralized corporate overhead costs, including non-cash expenses reflecting option issuance to key management, directors and employees.

SPoT Coffee president Anton Ayoub said the company has achieved major improvements to the financial operation of their cafés.

"For 2011, our average SPoT café sales exceeded the $1.0 million mark while average café costs have been noticeably reduced," Ayoub said.

"Each café is contributing a return to the head office allowing us to move aggressively forward with the construction of new cafés and enabling us to move closer to generating targeted profit."

SPoT registered improvement in same-store sales growth.

For SPoT cafés open for two years or longer, the average annual same-store sales rose 7.6% for each of these cafés.

The company worked to improve its commercial account business during fiscal 2011 by increasing wholesale distribution of its coffee and sales to local businesses and organisations.

SPoT looks to commission its new roasting plant in June 2012, which will increase roasting capacity and will help in expansion of business.

In fiscal 2011, the company trimmed down its vendors and entered agreements with existing vendors to maximize cost control on all purchases and further take advantage of its increasing economies of scale.

The company expanded its network across Western New York and Southern Ontario in Canada, and is working on new cafés, SPoT Concord Park Place in North York, Toronto, and SPoT Transit Road in Buffalo, which are slated to be opened in summer 2012.

SPoT will get possession of its new store location in Saratoga Springs in July 2012, and the construction of the store looks to be finished in early fall.