In 2019, Sphera recoreded an increase in sales of 23.8% YoY, an increase in EBITDA of 196% and an increase in net profit of 128.6%.

As Sphera Franchise Group published their preliminary FY 2019 results, we are brining you key takes from it. According to the report, the company’s sales reached RON 954.7m, representing an increase of 23.8% YoY. The main drivers of such an increase were the growth in the sales of USFN Romania (KFC restaurants) (+15.9%), which had a contribution of 12.1 p.p. in the sales growth rate, and USFN Italy (KFC restaurants in Italy), whose sales advanced 155% and contributed 7.8 p.p. to the sales growth rate.

When observing operating expenses, they reached RON 828.3m, representing an increase of 24.0% YoY. The higher operating expenses could be mainly attributed to the higher payroll and employee benefits (+33.3% or RON 53.9m) and higher depreciation (+252% or RON 51.5m). Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, operating expenses amounted to RON 830.4m, representing an increase of 24.3%  YoY.

As a result of the above, EBITDA went up by 196%, amounting to RON 152.6m. This puts the EBITDA margin at 16%, showing an improvement of 9.3 p.p, mainly as a result of the impact of IFRS 16 on restaurant operating margin. Excluding the impact of IFRS 16, normalized EBITDA increased 32.7%, amounting to RON 96m. This puts the  EBITDA margin at 10.1% (+0.07 p.p.).

Going furhter down the P&L, operating profit amounted to RON 76.4m, representing an increase of 154% YoY. In 2019, Sphera recorded a further decrease of the net financial result, which amounted to RON -17.4m (compared to RON -2.9m).

In 2019, Sphera recoreded a net profit of RON 55.46m (+128.6% YoY), which puts the profit margin at 5.8% (+2.7 p.p. YoY).