SPUR CORPORATION, the owner of Spur and RocoMamas eateries, managed to grow franchised restaurant sales by 1 percent for the financial year ended June 2021, the group said in a trading statement released on Friday.
Spur said the 1 percent restaurant sales growth represented a 67.6 percent increase in the second half of the financial year, over the same period in 2020, which was severely affected by the total prohibition on sit-down trade in the fourth quarter.
Spur profits have been under pressure since the outbreak of Covid-19 and the company is rapidly becoming a serious fast food market competitor with the launch of Spur Steak Ranches’ first drive-through in Pretoria, with plans to introduce drive-through formats for its RocoMamas and Bento brands.
“Despite the continuation of these difficult trading conditions, the group’s casual dining restaurants were more poised to handle deliveries and takeaways, loyal customers were more responsive to convenience channels such as click and collect, and, overall, the second half of the 2021 trading year produced improved results that indicate a slow, but positive recovery,” said Spur.
Spur Steak ranches are an integral part of South Africa’s dining culture with almost 300 restaurants across southern Africa, however, the impact of Covid-19 has been harsh.
“The general macro-economic impact of Covid-19, and the resultant erratic trading restrictions imposed in South Africa and globally, continue to create uncertainty in the restaurant industry and impact the group’s franchised and company-owned restaurants,” said the group.
Spur said new restaurant turnover trends emerged that were closely aligned to the changing regulations of seating capacity, takeaway/deliveries only and curfew hours.
The group said South African restaurant sales increased by 1.5 percent representing growth of 74.5 percent in the second half of the year compared with the second half in the year earlier.
It said although restaurant sales in the second half of the financial year improved over the first half, concessions to standard franchise and marketing fee rates charged to franchisees during the year to support their financial sustainability had affected group revenue and profit.
During the six months ended December group revenue declined by 40.2 percent to R314.2 million. The group said the second wave of Covid19 infections and restrictions led to restaurant turnover for December 2020 declining by 25.8 percent.
The share remained unchanged on Friday.
BUSINESS REPORT