Americana Restaurants announced its first annual result after the successful dual listing on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul), the company has announced annual revenue of $2.38 billion for financial year 2022, up 15.9 percent from the previous year.
Top-line growth was driven by like-for-like sales growth of 13.6 percent, and 220 gross new store openings. Adjusted EBITDA of $536 million was an increase of 15.4 percent, with a healthy EBITDA margin of 22.5 percent. Net income grew to $259.2 million, up 27.1 percent.
The company closed the year with 2,183 operating restaurants, including 186 gross openings for its leading brands KFC, Pizza Hut, Hardee’s and Krispy Kreme. Home Delivery contributed 39 percent of total revenue, followed by takeaway (24 percent), dine-in (21 percent), drive-thru (10 percent) and others (6 percent).
Mohamed Ali Rashed Alabbar, Chairman of Americana Restaurants, said: “2022 was a landmark year. Americana Restaurants elevated its global presence as a publicly listed company, in readiness for its next chapter as one of the most profitable, growth-oriented and diversified F&B operators.
“The MENA region remains uniquely attractive for out-of-home dining, with strong macroeconomic tailwinds, a growing youth population and soaring urbanisation. These dynamics, coupled with the cultural internationalism of our target markets, provides our business with a springboard for growth across MENA and Kazakhstan.
“Our near-term focus will be to leverage the strength of our platform to increase the penetration of existing brands, enter new categories and expand geographically both organically and inorganically by entering new markets. The company will also continue to invest in restaurant redesigns and organisational efficiency to minimise capital recovery periods and maintain cost discipline.”
Americana Restaurants maintains a healthy balance sheet and strong overall financial position. With adjusted Free Cash Flow for the period of $179 million and a cash conversion ratio of 49.3 percent, Americana is well positioned to meet its growth and capital expenditure commitments and support its dividend policy.
The Board announced H2 2022 dividends at $103.5 million or the equivalent of $0.0123 per share in line with its previous guidance.
Looking ahead, Americana Restaurants said in a release that it was ready to capitalise on opportunities to improve profitability by maintaining a sharp focus on revenue growth and margin expansion, including the opening of 250-300 new restaurants.
“Management will continue to execute and refine the company’s long-term strategy across the Middle East, North Africa and Kazakhstan in pursuit of industry-leading shareholder value creation,” the note added.
Americana’s KFC leads the way
KFC contributed to be the flagship brand of Americana Restaurants, while Krispy Kreme showed the strongest growth in revenue during the year.
KFC crossed a record 100 million transactions for the first time and accounted for nearly 61 percent of the company’s revenues in ($1.45 billion). Its revenue grew 17.9 percent with the opening of 54 gross new units, with expansion primarily focused on Saudi Arabia, Morocco and the UAE.
Hardee’s added 18 gross new stores and revenues crossed $400 million ($403 million), contributing approximately 17 percent of the company’s revenues. Pizza Hut, which was relaunched in Saudi Arabia, made up for nearly 11 percent of Americana’s revenues ($264 million) following a total revenue growth of 12 percent.
Krispy Kreme enhanced product innovation during the year by collaborating with major confectionary brands such as KitKat and Lotus. Sales reached $90 million as 68 new stores were added.
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