{"id":860639,"date":"2026-05-18T12:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=860639"},"modified":"2026-05-18T12:17:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T10:17:16","slug":"major-south-african-fast-food-brands-going-international","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/860639\/major-south-african-fast-food-brands-going-international\/","title":{"rendered":"Two of South Africa’s most popular fast food brands going international"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Famous Brands has successfully launched a Steers and Debonairs combo in Malaysia, marking the group’s entry into the market, which it is quite optimistic about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, despite the group’s other international operations in the UK, the Middle East and Africa struggling in the past financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the full year ending February 2026, Famous Brands recorded solid results, with revenue jumping to R8.74 billion, up from R8.28 billion the year prior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Operating profits were up to R956.6 million for the year (from R916.1 million in 2025), with headline earnings recorded at R584 million (up from R520 million the year prior).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group declared a final dividend of 220 cents per share (2025: 195 cents per share) to the
amount of R220.4 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, it said, reflected its stable financial position, despite the challenging economic environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the group’s results, much of its success is tied to South Africa, where most of its restaurants and franchises operate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group has a total of 3,043 restaurants across South Africa, the SADC region, the Rest of Africa and Middle East (AME), and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The restaurants are split among its Leading brands (Steers, Debonairs, Fishaways, Wimpy, etc), Signature brands (LUPA, Mythos, Salsa, Turn n Tender, etc) and Other brands segments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leading brands segment focuses on mainstream quick-service and casual dining brands, and generated the bulk of the group’s restaurant revenue in South Africa at R1.03 billion (2025: R969.3 million).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Signature segment consists of niche brands and generated R201.8 million in revenue, a marginal increase from R198.3 million in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In terms of profitability, however, the contrast is stark, with Leading brands generating R541.85 million in operating profit, and Signature brands posting a R10.59 million loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While overall segment revenue increased marginally, core franchise-related income declined, including franchise and marketing fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The segment also experienced higher operational costs against the backdrop of poorer economic conditions in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These include elevated food and fuel prices and supply chain disruptions, which disproportionately affect niche and casual dining brands where consumers may be more price-sensitive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite this, the group said that it remains optimistic about the business, noting that it has made a concerted effort to address areas of non-performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This should be evident in our 2027 results. We are confident in our growth prospects across formats, technology and menu development.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expanding beyond South Africa<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

One of the more notable areas for prospective growth is the company’s expansion plans, particularly in new markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said that investment is being directed towards delivery channels, smaller-format restaurants, and drive-thrus to meet sustained demand for convenience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our restaurant pipeline is healthy, with interest from both new and existing franchise partners,” it noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Expansion in the SADC and AME regions will be pursued through a measured and targeted approach, focusing on selected priority markets.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group said it has restructured its AME management team to reduce costs, including bringing its Dubai operations back to South Africa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it is really bullish on prospects in Malaysia, following the opening of a combo Steers and Debonairs Pizza restaurant in December 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was done in partnership with MESRA, a wholly owned subsidiary of PETRONAS Dagangan Berhad, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Entering the new markets and expansion will be tested by strained international operations, especially in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The group suffered an operating loss in the UK Wimpy segment, which amounted to R9.5 million for the 2026 financial year, compared to a R7.1 million profit in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Revenue for the UK segment fell by approximately 9.4% to R119.2 million, down from R131.6 million in the prior year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was primarily driven by declining revenue and a difficult macroeconomic environment, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similar pain was felt in the Rest of Africa and Middle East region, where the group suffered a R34.8 million operating loss\u2014however, this was narrowed from the R42.7 million loss the year before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Famous Brands has successfully launched a Steers and Debonairs combo in Malaysia, marking the group’s entry into the market, which it is quite optimistic about.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":860646,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[10789],"class_list":["post-860639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-famous-brands"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860639","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\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=860639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860648,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/860639\/revisions\/860648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/860646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=860639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=860639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=860639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}