Friday 10th June, 2011
Burgerfuel Worldwide Limited Results To 31 March 2011
The directors of BurgerFuel Worldwide Limited (BFW) report a profit of $33,513 for the twelve month period to 31 March
2011.
The profit compares with a loss of ($552,983) for the same period last year. The 2011 financial year saw a determined
focus to bring the group out of negative trading and into a break-even (slightly profitable) position. This was
primarily achieved by a number of key initiatives, namely:
1) Solid trading in the Middle East where further store expansion is now underway. 2) Consolidation of the existing New
Zealand stores and a focus on system health and franchisee profitability. 3) Implementation of company and system wide
cost efficiency initiatives. 4) Closure of the company owned Kings Cross store in Sydney and a reduction of overheads in
Australia. Previous years reported results comparison:
2011 2010 2009 2008
33,513 (552,983) (710,282) (2,149,067) The preliminary results have been audited and Staples Rodway expect to offer an
unmodified opinion on the financial statements to 31 March 2011.
BFW results for the year ended 31 March 2011
Year End 2011 $(000’s) Total Revenue 8,326 Total Expenses (8,292) Profit 34 Total (unaudited) system sales up 10.3% to
$33,002,131 BFW’s royalty earnings correlate directly to growth in BurgerFuel system sales. Details by geographic region
are reported below:
MIDDLE EAST (reported in $NZD)
BurgerFuel Middle East - United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (un-audited) system sales up 394% to
$4,082,989 During the year to 31 March 2011 the group opened its second Middle East store under a master license
agreement in Dubai, adding to its first store in Saudi Arabia. Both Middle Eastern stores are trading well and currently
a further 4 stores have been confirmed for construction in Dubai, a further 2 stores in Saudi Arabia and 1 store in the
new territory of Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. In total therefore a further 7 stores are expected to open in the Middle East
during the 2012 financial year.
Exports to Middle East
BurgerFuel continues to export all its beef from New Zealand to the Middle East. Consistent procedures around exports
and regular shipping lines have now been established ensuring that beef and other proprietary dry goods, along with
proprietary construction shop fit out items are now regularly shipped to various ports in the Middle East. Exports are
expected to grow in accordance with store growth in those regions. We are however mindful of the strong NZD against the
USD. Should this remain at such record levels, it may affect our ability to compete in some export markets with our beef
exports.
NEW ZEALAND
BurgerFuel NZ (un-audited) system sales up 0.9% to $27,042,201
Sales growth in NZ was lower than anticipated due to the closure of the Bayfair Store on 11 April 2010 and subsequent
relocation to Mt Maunganui, reopening on 6 December 2010. In accordance with the NZ store consolidation strategy
previously outlined there were no new stores opened during the year in NZ. Although the economic conditions in NZ remain
uncertain, it is the intention that some new franchised stores may open in NZ in the current year. These will be
announced if and when unconditional commitments for these new stores are made.
AUSTRALIA (reported in $NZD)
BurgerFuel Australia (un-audited) system sales down 18.6% to $1,876,941 The decline in system sales in Australia was
caused by the closure of the company owned Kings Cross store in November 2010, this also affected BFW revenue. As
previously advised the directors are of the view that expansion in Australia at this time under the direct ownership
model is not economic due to the rising operational costs in that country, particularly the labour costs which have
risen by more than 50% during the past 4 years. The Newtown store remains operational in Sydney and at this point that
store will be retained and operated under franchise. It is the intention to eventually move toward a master license
system in that country, operating the same model as in the Middle East and accordingly reducing the need for company
capital to be utilised for store building and operational funding.
BFW OUTLOOK
During this financial year BFW remains focused on growing the franchised system throughout New Zealand and in other
countries particularly in the Middle East. The company has expended resources and capital to establish the Middle East
as a key market territory and this region is now starting to show returns. The construction of more stores will
significantly enhance the BurgerFuel brand presence in that region as well as start to increase distribution and scale.
Other countries in the Middle East are also under consideration where establishment will be by way of sales of master
license agreements.
SUMMARY In the financial year to 31 March 2011, BFW has managed to stem losses whilst establishing a management
structure that can support its international aspirations. The future success of the Group is largely based on our
ability to open stores - both in New Zealand and overseas. It is, however, important to recognise that growth must be
sustainable and thus stores and partners have to be carefully selected and consideration given to many factors - other
than just store numbers.
Economic markets do dictate the current pace at which we can expand. It takes a significant amount of time to identify
suitable markets, find appropriate partners, negotiate master licenses and then build and support the operation of
stores in other countries.
The directors of BFW remain highly committed to building an international brand and exporting our home grown kiwi
burgers to as many countries as possible. As the Group transitions into effectively a New Zealand R & D business which both operates a NZ chain of hamburger restaurants and supports an international franchise system, more
and more learnings and development processes occur.
Our vision and aspirations have always been big, however we believe this is the only way to move forward to achieving
our goal of being a global gourmet hamburger brand. We believe in the brand, continuing to refine our model in order to
make it more scalable and adaptable to the many different countries we one day expect to be operating in.
What is clear is that the BurgerFuel product and brand is gaining international acceptance and we believe the
opportunity for growth to be a real and credible proposition. To support this we hold and maintain a global portfolio of
registered territory intellectual property.
The board will continue with its strategy of continued development and investment, with the objective of growing profit.
It does however believe that there will be further times ahead where investment ahead of the growth curve will be
necessary and this may affect short term profit. As always this will be measured against the Group’s resources and the
ability to re-coup investment with acceptable returns.
In accordance with the previously outlined policy since listing, there will be no dividends paid. As at 31 March 2011
BFW’s net asset position was $3,228,259 which included cash reserves of $1,213,785, and no debt.
We would like to thank all our shareholders for their continued support and look forward to the year ahead.
ends