Burger King UK today highlighted a raft of openings, including new restaurants in Scotland, as it unveiled a 30% surge in total annual revenues to £381.8 million last year and revealed it had bounced back into operating profit.
It reported a 3% rise in sales on a “like-for-like basis”, adjusting the figures to remove the impact of value-added tax relief in place in the first three months of 2022.
Burger King UK said it had achieved “strong profitable growth”, with operating profit of £13.4 million “due to revenue growth from existing estate and new restaurants, together with good cost management”. This compared with a loss of £20.7m in the prior year.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation improved to £23.3m in 2023 from £15.1m in the prior year.
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The chain highlighted its opening of 18 new Burger King UK-owned restaurants around the UK, including “drive thru” locations at Barrhead in East Renfrewshire and Kirkcaldy in Fife.
Burger King UK flagged “resilient” trading in the first half of this year.
It also noted it had "completed the full integration of 74 Burger King UK restaurants" following the acquisition of Karali Group in September 2022.
Burger King UK noted that, at of June 30 this year, it operated 561 restaurants, 285 of which are directly owned with the remainder sub-franchises. The business employs around 6,000 people.
Chief executive Alasdair Murdoch said: “We have seen a resilient trading performance in the first half of 2024, with total sales growth of 5% split equally between the existing estate and contribution from new site openings.
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“This was also supported by a significant improvement in profitability from a strong operational cost focus. Looking ahead, we are excited about our ambitious expansion plans and the continued growth of our digital and delivery services, supported by good cost management and a robust pipeline of new openings."
Burger King UK noted it had received an additional £35m of funding from its majority shareholder, private equity outfit Bridgepoint, during 2023.
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The chain said: “Despite continued macroeconomic challenges, Burger King UK continued to trade resiliently, leveraging new store openings and integration of the Karali business acquired in September 2022 to progress the business’ rapid expansion in the UK.”
Burger King first entered the UK market in 1976. Burger King UK was established in 2017 through Bridgepoint’s simultaneous acquisition of the master franchise agreement in the UK, and an initial 74 Burger King restaurants to directly own and manage.
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