Simbisa counters increase 10pc

Business Reporter
QUICK service restaurant firm Simbisa Brands says top line performance for the three months to September 30, 2016 marginally improved on a 10 percent increase in counters and growth in customer base. Simbisa chief executive Mr Basil Dionisio told shareholders at the company’s first annual general meeting in Harare that, the number of customers grew 4 percent quarter on quarter.

Zimbabwe is Simbisa’s biggest market and contributed 62 percent of its total revenue during the nine months to June 2016. “On the back of weak commodity prices regionally and the liquidity constraints in our largest market, Zimbabwe, our top-line performance for our first quarter has marginally grown,” said Mr Dionisio.

“Despite the numerous challenges that we are experiencing, I am pleased to note that our headline earnings for the same period is marginally up. The number of counters has grown 10 percent quarter on quarter. The net number of customers has increased by 4 percent,” said Mr Dionisio.

In financial year 2016, the group opened an additional 57 counters across the region and served 48 million customers. Despite the challenging economic environment, management at Simbisa are upbeat about the future prospects and forecasts growth in earnings. “We note with optimism that FX rates in our regional markets have stabilised,” said Mr Dionisio.

In the nine months to June 30, 2016, Simbisa indicated weakening regional currencies against the US dollar had a negative impact on topline. Regional operations contributed $41 million to total revenue. Simbisa is the quick service restaurant arm of industrial conglomerate Innscor Africa Limited. It currently operates 415 quick service restaurants in 11 countries across Africa. and sees further expansion in the region as key in spreading risk and its footprint across the continent.