Famous Brands has opened 70 new restaurants in just six months, despite the challenging retail environment in the market in which it operates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In its interim results for the six months ended 31 August 2025, the group said it saw strong network growth, with the openings of 70 new restaurants and 103 revamps completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There were also positive gains for its drive-thru network, with five drive-thrus opened, bringing its drive-thru footprint to 77 restaurants.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In South Africa, its leading brands, including Wimpy, Steers, Debonairs, Mugg & Bean and more, opened\u00a0 53 new stores over the period.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leading Brands also saw 103 store revamps and one restaurant converted. However, 10 stores were closed.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Famous Brands said that its Leading Brands\u2019 saw system-wide sales increase by 6.0%, and like-for-like sales increased by 2.6%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Restaurant sales were boosted by increased local tourism and increased traffic resulting from return-to-office mandates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe expanded our footprint of smaller restaurant formats and drive-thrus to meet consumer demand for convenience,\u201d said the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Elsewhere, the group\u2019s Signature Brands in South Africa, which include Turn n Tender, Vovo Telo, Mythos, Netcare and more, opened six new stores. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Signature Brands portfolio delivered softer results than anticipated, driven by lower consumer demand for premium dining out,\u201d said the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like-for-like sales and system-wide sales in the Signature Brands portfolio dropped by 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The group\u2019s Operating loss margin also rose to 7.0% from 6.7%. Amid these challenges, 10 Signature Brands were closed during the period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going international, the SADC region experienced steady growth, with revenue increasing by 2.7% to R224 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Operating profit did decline by 11.8% to R24 billion, with the operating profit margin dropping by 10.9% over the period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the mixed performance in the SADC region, the group opened eight new stores, but closed five over the period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the Africa and Middle East (AME) region, the group saw 12 restaurants close over the period, with only one opened in the area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRevenue in AME declined by 5.4% to R33 million. Several markets are experiencing tough trading conditions and high inflation,\u201d said the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are undergoing a legal process in the UAE with our multiple-store franchise partner. We have recorded six restaurants in the UAE as closed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have been cautious about new opportunities and opened one franchised restaurant, which was a second Debonairs Pizza in Abidjan, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the UK, revenue declined by 5.7% to R65 million, with two restaurants closed and only two opened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe UK restaurant industry has been battling with cost pressures, cautious consumers and economic uncertainty, resulting in constrained sales.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The group noted that its financial performance demonstrated strong momentum, with positive results across key financial metrics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Our financial performance demonstrated strong momentum, with positive results across key financial metrics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Revenue rose by 5.6% to R4.2 billion and operating profit increased by 5.8% to R393 million. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The group’s headline earnings per share (HEPS) increased by 8.0% to 236 cents, while basic earnings per share (BEPS) increased by 6.8% to 236 cents. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Famous Brands has expanded its restaurant network across South Africa, but saw a net decrease in two regions in which it operates. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":95,"featured_media":826395,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[10215,10789,5808,4166,9812,5812],"class_list":["post-840590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-debonairs","tag-famous-brands","tag-mugg-bean","tag-sadc","tag-steers","tag-wimpy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/95"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=840590"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840590\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":840603,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/840590\/revisions\/840603"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/826395"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=840590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=840590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=840590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Brands<\/strong><\/td> New Restuarants<\/strong><\/td> Revamps<\/strong><\/td> Closures<\/strong><\/td> Converted<\/strong><\/td> Total<\/strong> Stores<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Leading Brands<\/td> 53<\/td> 103<\/td> 10<\/td> 1<\/td> –<\/td><\/tr> Signature Brands<\/td> 6<\/td> 0<\/td> 10<\/td> 0<\/td> –<\/td><\/tr> South Africa<\/strong><\/td> –<\/td> –<\/td> –<\/td> –<\/td> 2 666<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> SADC<\/strong><\/td> 8<\/td> 1<\/td> 5<\/td> 0<\/td> 227<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> AME<\/strong><\/td> 1<\/td> 0<\/td> 12<\/td> 0<\/td> 57<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> UK<\/strong><\/td> 2<\/td> 0<\/td> 5<\/td> 0<\/td> 58<\/strong><\/td><\/tr> Total<\/strong><\/td> 70<\/strong><\/td> 104<\/strong><\/td> 42<\/strong><\/td> 1<\/strong><\/td> 3 008<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n Financials<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Financial Statements<\/strong><\/td> Unit<\/strong><\/td> Six months ended August 2025<\/strong><\/td> Six months ended August 2024<\/strong><\/td> % change (2024 versus 2025)<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead> Revenue<\/td> R’m<\/td> 4,240<\/td> 4,017<\/td> 5.6<\/td><\/tr> Operating profit<\/td> R’m<\/td> 393<\/td> 371<\/td> 5.8<\/td><\/tr> Operating profit margin<\/td> %<\/td> 9.3<\/td> 9.2<\/td> <\/td><\/tr> Basic earnings per share (BEPS)<\/td> Cents<\/td> 236<\/td> 221<\/td> 6.8<\/td><\/tr> Headline earnings per share (HEPS)<\/td> Cents<\/td> 236<\/td> 218<\/td> 8.0<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"