FOOTFALL DROPS
Fewer diners give Famous Brands food for thought
Famous Brands’s research shows 16% decline in casual dining from a year ago
Not even Tashas regulars have been immune to SA’s economic crunch. Releasing interim results on Monday, Famous Brands’s research showed that customers visited casual dining and quick-service restaurants 16% less frequently than a year ago as footfall through SA’s malls has dwindled. Casual dining — through its Tashas, Mythos, Turn n Tender and Vovo Telo brands — reported lower like-for-like sales for the six months to end-August, offsetting better sales growth from its Mugg & Bean, Steers and Debonairs franchises. "People always thought the premium end was invincible.… But invincible businesses just don’t exist. If you just take our South African business we’re pretty proud of those results: it hasn’t been easy," said CEO Darren Hele. Famous Brands’s biggest headache, though, is its expensive Gourmet Burger Kitchen acquisition, which introduced debt of R2.9bn, where before it had none, and dragged first-half headline earnings 59% lower, to 170c per share. However, the same deal was ...
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