TIDMFRAN

RNS Number : 9470V

Franchise Brands PLC

20 April 2021

20 April 2021

FRANCHISE BRANDS PLC

("Franchise Brands", the "Group" or the "Company")

AGM statement and Q1 Trading Update

24% growth in adjusted EBITDA to a record quarter of GBP2m

Franchise Brands plc (AIM: FRAN), a multi-brand franchise business , will hold its Annual General Meeting today at 11.00am, at which Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman, will provide the following update:

"We are delighted to announce that in the first quarter of 2021 the Group performed strongly, with Q1 adjusted EBITDA growing 24% to a record of GBP2m (Q1 2020: GBP1.6m). This performance underlines the strength of our business model and is a testament to the hard work of all our people throughout the challenges of the winter lockdown. Turnover returned to pre-COVID 19 levels by the end of Q1, despite the hospitality sector having not yet reopened. We also benefited from efficiency savings due to new ways of working that were established during the pandemic, which have been facilitated by the ongoing digital transformation of our business.

Our ability to achieve 24% growth in EBITDA underpins the organic growth element of our strategic financial targets of GBP100m in run-rate revenues and adjusted EBITDA of GBP15m by the end of 2023. We continue to seek opportunities to deploy our considerable balance sheet strength to complement our organic growth through earnings enhancing acquisitions. At 31 March 2021, the Group had cash of GBP12.9m and undrawn bank facilities of GBP7.0m, giving the Group approximately GBP20m of cash and available facilities.

Overall, the Group is trading strongly, and the Board looks forward to the rest of the year with considerable confidence."

Enquiries:

 
 Franchise Brands plc                               + 44 (0) 1625 813231 
 Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman 
 Chris Dent, Chief Financial Officer 
 Julia Choudhury, Corporate Development Director 
 
 Allenby Capital Limited (Nominated Adviser 
  and Joint Broker)                                 +44 (0) 20 3328 5656 
 Jeremy Porter / Liz Kirchner (Corporate 
  Finance) 
  Amrit Nahal (Sales and Corporate Broking) 
 
 Dowgate Capital Limited (Joint Broker)             +44 (0) 20 3903 7715 
 James Serjeant / Colin Climie / Nicholas 
  Chambers 
 
 MHP Communications (Financial PR)                  +44 (0) 20 3128 8100 
 Katie Hunt                                         +44 (0) 7884 494112 
                                                    franchisebrands@mhpc.com

About Franchise Brands plc

Franchise Brands is focused on building market-leading businesses in selected customer segments, primarily via a franchise model. The Group currently has a combined network of over 425 franchisees across five principal franchise brands. Our focus is on established brands which can benefit from our shared support services, specialist sector expertise, management experience and group resources.

The Group is organised into a B2B division comprised of Metro Rod, Metro Plumb and Willow Pumps, and a B2C division that incorporates ChipsAway, Ovenclean and Barking Mad. This divisional organisation is designed to provide a greater focus and structure to support the strategic development of our B2B and B2C brands. Each of our brands are leaders in their respective markets and each brand has a long trading history. The combined trading history of all the Group's brands is over 135 years.

Franchise Brands plc employs 265 people across three principal locations in Macclesfield, Kidderminster and Aylesford.

For further information, visit www.franchisebrands.co.uk .

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy Policy.

END

AGMDKCBDABKDKQD

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 20, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)

Franchise Brands (LSE:FRAN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Franchise Brands Charts.
Franchise Brands (LSE:FRAN)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024 Click Here for more Franchise Brands Charts.