The company said that excluding the seasonal effect of the month of Ramadan from quarterly performance results, quarterly revenue reached 7.5% year-on-year growth.
The company achieved adjusted EBITDA of $126.9 million in the first quarter, down 5.6% year-on-year, due to raw material price inflation and lower sales volumes in March due to the seasonal effect of Ramadan, according to the company’s statement.
First-quarter net income attributable to parent shareholders was $58.1 million, down 19.3% from the same period last year.
In terms of company operations during the first quarter, Americana Restaurants added 49 new restaurants to its restaurant group, and as of March 31, 2023, the company’s restaurant count reached 2,228 restaurants, with 63 new restaurants under construction, and management plans to open between 250 and 300 new restaurants per year in the medium term. .
On March 28, 2023, Americana Restaurants held its first annual general meeting, at which shareholders approved the distribution of dividends of $0.0123 per share for the second half of 2022, the total dividends distributed for this period amounting to $103.5 million.
The company’s management believes that Saudi Arabia represents an interesting opportunity to develop its restaurant group and that Iraq, in turn, represents an opportunity as a new region to establish its restaurants. Given the current unfavorable economic conditions in Egypt, the company will focus on developing its business and its employees and reducing costs.
Americana Restaurants will continue to expand its digital capabilities and enhance external revenue channels, while developing new brands including Pizza Hut Saudi Arabia, Beats Coffee and Wimpy.
The company also expects gross margins to improve in the second half of 2023, while gradually reducing strategic inventory, and aims to improve the adjusted EBITDA margin by 250 to 300 basis points over the medium term.
Management expects the negative impact of Ramadan on sales in the second quarter of 2023 to be relatively less than it was in the second quarter of 2022, when the entire holy month fell during this period.
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