The boss of the Carluccio's restaurant chain which has outlets in Oxford and Bicester has said he is delighted with the group's debut performance on the stockmarket.

Welcoming a pre-tax profit of £3.4m for the year to September 24, managing director Simon Kossoff said the transition from being a private to a publicly listed company had gone very smoothly.

He said: "It has made very little difference to the business. We are still growing at the rate of five restaurants a year and we have not had to raise any more money."

Mr Kossoff added the Oxford Castle branch was operating successfully, despite the development taking a long time to complete.

He said: "It is an exciting area and the perfect place for a Carluccio's."

According to Mr Kossoff, the outlet at Bicester Village was different in that it served a retail destination but was in the top ten performing restaurants in the group.

And despit growing competition from coffee shops, he said the group's format of a restaurant and integrated food shop was a successful combination.

Carluccio's was originally set up by top TV chef Antonio Carluccio who originally took a hand-on role in the chain's development.

However, now the company has gone public, he has taken a much reduced role.