Famous Brands will not pay dividends until 2018 as the company pushes to meet internal growth targets. But group CEO Darren Hele does not expect investors to abandon ship because of this. "It’s relatively straightforward if you look at the size of the GBK [Gourmet Burger Kitchen] transaction and the amount that was invested," said Hele. "We are being cautious. We need to bed the gearing down." Famous Brands purchased UK chain GBK for R2.1bn in September in the group’s biggest acquisition yet. The transaction was funded by cash accumulated from business operations and debt facilities. "We are taking a proactive rather than a reactionary approach to this. Shareholders have had a very good return on investment in the past 12 months and we believe it’s very different when a company suspends dividend payments for reasons other than performance." In the six months to end-August, Famous Brands reported a 23% rise in group revenue to R2.45bn. Aftertax profit climbed 62% to R411m compared wi...
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