Burger Fuel Worldwide Annual Meeting Scripted addresses
11th Annual Meeting of Burger Fuel Worldwide Ltd, Thursday 30th August 2018 at 2.00 pm
Chairman's Address,
On behalf of the board, I would like to welcome you all to the 11
th
annual BurgerFuel
Worldwide AGM and thank you all for your support as shareholders.
For those of you who haven’t visited here before, we would also like to welcome you to
BurgerFuel HQ. This building is the heart of the deeply unique BurgerFuel brand and it is our
pleasure to be able to host you here today.
I would now like to review the main events of the past financial year for the BurgerFuel Group
of companies.
A net loss after tax for the period of $463,062 was reported.
Group Operating Revenue increased by 10.9% to $24.8M. This was largely comprised of sales
revenue & long-term recurring royalties from existing and newly opened BurgerFuel
restaurants.
BurgerFuel Total (unaudited) System Sales are up 5% to $105M for the 12-month period.
The total number of BurgerFuel restaurants operating globally as at 31 March 2018 was 80.
FY18 was a pivotal year for BFW, and saw the Company undertake many major strategic
changes in order to refocus the business on growth here in New Zealand, where we see
great potential for further profitable development as a Group.
Despite withdrawing from the collaboration agreement with Franchise Brands, we decided
to establish an exploratory store in America as much of the preparatory work had been
done. We opened the first USA-based company owned and operated store in Broad Ripple,
Indianapolis in May 2017. The store opened strongly but has experienced mixed results over
the first 12 months of operation.
At the end of FY18, the Board decided that without a US partner, the financial undertaking
required to further establish and expand the brand in this market was too high for a
potentially unknown return and that resource was better dedicated toward development
here in New Zealand. Thus, the Master Licence Agreement for BurgerFuel USA was sold to
BurgerFuel founder, Chris Mason, who still sees potential for both development and the
possibility of a USA partner for that market. BFW has returned to its primary function as a
Master Franchisor.
The agreement included the purchase of the single company-owned store in Indianapolis.
As part of the agreement, Chris Mason resigned from the BFW Board of Directors in order to
ensure that independent governance at board level was maintained and to allow Chris’s
focus to remain firmly on the development of the USA only. Some additional costs were
incurred as part of this process, and these are shown in the accounts.
This move will allow BFW to re-focus resource and capital on both the development of the
BurgerFuel brand, supporting the existing BurgerFuel markets and the exploration of new
opportunities here in New Zealand.
BFW independent director John Pfannenbecker also stepped down from his position on the
board of directors in November 2017. John was appointed when the Franchise Brands
collaboration agreement was in force but following the passing of Fred De Luca and the end
of the Franchise Brands partnership, the board accepted John’s resignation as independent
director. The board thanks John for his service to BFW and wishes him well for the future.
Shareholders will be aware that we have recently negotiated to buy back the shareholding
in BFW held by Franchise Brands LLB in order to formalise the end of this relationship. In July,
BFW purchased 5.27% of the 10% holding in cash. Subsequently, we were able to negotiate
very favourable payment terms with Franchise Brands that will enable the Company to pay
for and cancel the remaining balance of 4.9% over a period of eight months. This has
triggered the need for shareholders to vote, meaning that one of the resolutions at the end
of the meeting today will relate to the Company’s decision to complete the purchase of
the balance of these shares from Franchise Brands.
Across the rest of the BurgerFuel business, we have continued to focus on the growth and
maximisation of our existing store network in New Zealand and in the Middle East. The board
continues to see ongoing potential within the BurgerFuel brand to drive revenue via both
existing and new streams and it is our objective to pursue these pathways towards increasing
profits year on year.
It has become clear to the board over the last two years that international exploration and
development has become an expensive, time consuming and ultra-competitive proposition
in today’s rapidly expanding retail food category. The directors feel that the growth potential
for BFW lies here in New Zealand, where we have intimate knowledge of the market and the
ability to move the Group forward into profit.
Our strategic direction is now to transition into a multi-brand group in New Zealand where we
have in-depth knowledge of the market and can capitalise on our years of experience
gained here.
The Winner Winner Chicken Shop brand was acquired by BFW in December 2017. This marks
a new era for BFW, as the Group looks to diversify into the development of other brands,
utilising our strengths and years of experience in franchising, marketing and systemisation.
In addition to the acquisition of the Winner Winner brand, we are pleased to announce that
we are close to launching a new brand that has been developed here in-house at BFW.
We will, of course, also continue to support and work alongside our established BurgerFuel
partners in the Middle East, where there is also more room for development of the BurgerFuel
brand.
The board is very positive about the opportunities available to us in New Zealand and looks
forward to sharing more news of other potential business activities, both inside, and outside
of the BurgerFuel brand, over the coming year.
The Company expects to move towards profitable growth in FY19 and based on this, it is our
intention to review our dividend policy for the years following.
Chief Executive’s Address
Good afternoon everyone and welcome once again to our 11th AGM. It’s certainly been a
busy year for BFW and I’m looking forward to sharing with you some more information about
our new strategic direction.
In FY18, alongside continuing to develop and support the BurgerFuel brand in New Zealand
and the Middle East, we opened our first store in the USA, commenced development of a
new food concept, purchased the Winner Winner brand, moved to exit Australia and sold
the USA Master Franchise to BurgerFuel founder Chris Mason.
As Peter mentioned, the resource and capital required for international development has
become too much for us to keep expending. This, coupled with the increasing length of time
required to establish concepts in new, ultra-competitive markets, has all pointed to the need
to change direction. These factors have forced us to review in detail, our strategy for growth,
so that as Peter stated, we can focus on moving the Company into profit.
Firstly, I would like to talk about BurgerFuel USA. A lot of capital – both time and money - went
into our USA venture. Securing the Subway, Franchise Brands partnership was, for me, a
massive business achievement. I had developed a personal relationship with Fred Deluca
the Founder of Subway and his passing and the subsequent loss of the Subway and
Franchise Brands partnership can only be described as devastating to our aspirations to
become a global burger brand.
We had that huge opportunity in the palm of our hands and were well underway with the
rather enormous task of stitching ourselves into the Subway network. I know that all
shareholders have been extremely disappointed at the loss of this partnership – none more so
than myself. Many of us have lost personal wealth with the erosion in our share price that
followed the end of that partnership. However – we must all accept that this is business, and
this is the risk we take in making investments where the outcome is sometimes simply out of
our control. Last year became all about picking ourselves up, shaking off the dust and
looking for how we recover and move forward. We are still a great New Zealand company
with many options and that is what I, as CEO, am focused on.
Later in the meeting Peter will discuss the resolution to purchase back the remaining
Franchise Brands shares at a significant discount to the current market price. I simply wish to
thank Franchise Brands for their gracious exit and the very generous offer afforded to us, to
allow us as a Company to purchase back and then to cancel, their 10% shareholding over a
comfortable period of time. This will end this chapter in the history books of BFW and will of
course increase the ownership percentages of all shareholders.
Following the opening the first USA based store, we reviewed the ongoing expenditure and
resource that would be required to support and further develop the brand in this market. We
had to ask ourselves if this this was a good use of our resources to continue development as
a small NZ company relative to a massive USA market. The answer was no – we cannot
undertake this ourselves – we must have a large, local USA partner for BFW to continue
supporting the requirement for big amounts of cash and time needed to penetrate that
market.
Chris Mason who is based in the USA remains enthusiastic and excited about the prospect of
making BurgerFuel a success in the USA. Following negotiations, we were able to formulate a
deal with Chris which allowed us some of our capital back, and, more importantly, the
chance of a modest slice of any prospects in the USA.
We feel the brand is in good hands with Chris, who is currently operating the Broad Ripple
store under licence and who we understand has plans to expand from that base.
Alongside the decision for BFW to exit the USA, the big question we asked ourselves is simply:
Where are our strengths? What are we good at? Where can we best succeed? BFW is a
company that excels in franchising, systemisation and marketing – and we have extensive
knowledge, connections, experience and networks right here in New Zealand. It has
become clear to us that this is where the opportunity lies, and with BurgerFuel reaching
maturity in store numbers, our focus is now on establishing and growing a successful multi-
brand group utilising the strong stable of assets we have at hand.
As mentioned in the Annual Report, it is likely that BurgerFuel Worldwide will undergo a name
change in the near future as it diminishes its international exploration efforts and focusses on
the development of a premium multi-brand business in New Zealand.
The acquisition of the Winner Winner brand was the first step forward in this direction.
Winner Winner is a great brand with a strong food offering and a well-established reputation
in the Waikato region. I highly recommend you stop by to eat there next time you are in
Hamilton. We see a lot of potential to grow the footprint of Winner Winner in the surrounding
regions, and eventually, right across the country. We are currently focused on systemising the
business, as well as securing franchisees for growth and will update the market with
information as the Winner Winner business develops.
We are now very close to launching a fast, new, modern, innovative food concept to market
here in New Zealand that we believe will provide a high-quality food solution to hungry
consumers. This concept – soon to be announced, will take us into a different market
segment to BurgerFuel and ultimately, we think will be highly complementary. The next step is
to get the first store open and to obtain proof of concept. Should this store be successful, we
will look to franchise this concept within the New Zealand market. More information will be
provided to the market on our new brand in the coming weeks.
As stated our focus is now set firmly on supporting and growing the existing BurgerFuel
business in New Zealand and supporting the Middle East, as well as building our two new
New Zealand-based brands to create positive revenue streams. Additionally, we are always
looking at further opportunities to expand our footprint here in New Zealand.
I wish to thank you all for your continued support of us as a listed company. The journey to
success is full of ups and downs and learnings. Whilst the last year or two have not been easy,
we have emerged as a company with a tighter focus on strong local ambitions. We remain
committed to achievement and expansion.
Chief Operating Officer’s Address
Thanks Josef. I’d also like to welcome our shareholders to BurgerFuel HQ today and thank
you all for your ongoing support.
In FY18, our years of experience in systemisation, operational excellence, training and scaling
have continued to prove their value as we have worked to not only advance and maximise
the BurgerFuel business, but to build a solid foundation for the two new brands in the Group.
This has included the refinement and adaption of our key systems, processes, procurement
and supply chain for all brands - our goals is to achieve scalability, and economic and
operational efficiency right across the business.
Whilst the two new brands will sit totally separate to BurgerFuel in the consumer world and
provide very different customer experiences, operationally we have been able to adopt and
customise many BurgerFuel tools and systems which have created great efficiencies for
these new brands.
So far, we have managed to do this without adding any additional headcount, which is the
product of previous projects delivering higher productivity levels.
To remain ahead of competitors in this fast-changing market, grow the BurgerFuel brand,
and scale a stable of new brands, we know that innovation, quality product, great customer
experiences and world-class marketing are essential ingredients. Every day we drive forward
to refine and maximise our current offering in our quest to deliver the ultimate brand
experiences to our customers.
We have talked about achieving operational excellence in the past and this is now more
important than ever as we move the Company back into profit and launch new food
concepts. In all markets, we have continued to improve, innovate and fine tune our gourmet
food offering as well as increase the speed in which we can sell and serve great food –
without compromising on quality or the customer experience.
To further maximise our menu and dining experience for customers, we launched a new
gourmet, all-natural dessert range in FY18 and these products are performing well to date.
In the marketing department, we placed a huge focus on brand marketing in FY18 as part of
our efforts to increase the knowledge our customers have of BurgerFuel, our menu, our
ingredients and our culture. We have increased our digital capabilities, allowing us to reach
more customers with more targeted messaging and there are many projects underway in
the business at present to upgrade and refine our digital tools and improve the customer
journey.
People are the core of our business and we have continued to innovate our training
programs to provide an immersive, engaging, comprehensive education programme for our
staff that not only benefits their personal development, but improves the customer
experience too.
Utilising innovative technology and gamification, our word-class training materials are
designed to have maximum impact with the millennials using them, and the new brands will
benefit greatly from these resources too.
In New Zealand we have seen another year of solid results and have continued to strengthen
the penetration of the BurgerFuel brand. As previously communicated the brand is starting to
mature here in New Zealand however there are still a number of areas that do not have a
BurgerFuel outlet. We see potential in these areas and work is underway to franchise these
remaining locations.
Our company owned stores in Ponsonby, Takapuna and Henderson have continued to
provide a good return on investment to BFW, as well as acting as valuable facilities for
training, research, product trial, day-to-day operations and customer insights. The Company
owned stores portfolio is certainly an area we will look to expand in the future, if, and when,
opportunities present themselves.
In Australia, as previously signalled, reasonable operating margins have continued to be
difficult to achieve despite every effort to move towards profit. Therefore, in July of this year,
we closed all remaining franchised stores in Australia and exited the market. These store
closures are not material to the Group.
In the Middle East, total revenue is down for FY18, but the region continues to be a good
contributor for us and we are seeing progress in some areas in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and
Iraq.
Retail occupancy costs remain extremely high in most parts of the Middle East – especially in
Dubai. Thus, our strategy with our Master Franchisees continues to be the relocation of high
rent stores to lower rent, key residential areas to reduce overheads, while maintaining
customer reach. To further assist this strategy, our partners in Dubai have been driving
forward with the development of the home delivery service to offer more convenience to
customers and maximise revenue.
Earlier this month, we opened a new store, Motor City, in Dubai. This store will provide home
delivery service to the many affluent suburbs around it.
While the entire retail sector in the UAE continues to be somewhat turbulent and we face a
heavy proliferation of competitor concepts, our business is operating well for the Group at
this stage. We will continue to work with our partners there to explore further opportunities in
the UAE.
Our licensed business in Saudi Arabia has continued to see good growth in sales and this can
be largely attributed to a continued increase in BurgerFuel marketing activity, as well as the
on-going effects of the changing Saudi economy. Like our other Middle Eastern markets,
Saudi Arabia is also facing high retail rent, increasing labour costs and also staff shortages
due to work visa changes. Our partners in Saudi are also optimising locations as well as
implementing store re-design strategies to maximise space, reduce overheads and increase
local customer reach. Earlier this month, we opened a new outlet in the Rabwa district of
Riyadh.
In Iraq, sales for the store in Baghdad performed reasonably well in FY18 and the brand has
continued to grow in popularity, standing out in a revitalised market that is currently free from
a proliferation of American chains. Our partners in Iraq opened a second store in Baghdad
on the other side of the river in early FY19. Iraq is facing some challenges however – the
impending elections, utility shortages and local friction is causing some difficulties and having
an impact on trade. We will monitor the situation closely and continue to support our Iraqi
partners.
In Egypt, the political climate and its effect on the economy proved unviable for our licence
holders in this market and accordingly our partners made the move in FY18 to close their
remaining stores. At this point in time there are no plans to reopen in Egypt. These closures
are not material to the Group.
To summarise, while revenue is down for the MENA region, the Board remains positive about
parts of the region, especially if we can lessen the effects of high retail rents via strategic
store relocations. As always, we do caution the market every year that our outlook in any of
these countries can change quickly due to the ongoing potential for volatility in the Middle
East.
We will continue to support the Middle Eastern markets and see potential for further growth
and development in this region.
Overall, it has been a year of significant consolidation and optimisation as we work to restore
the Company towards profit while also laying the foundations required to transition
successfully into a multi-brand group. This is a large task and we are only at the beginning,
but it is a strategy that should deliver sustainable long-term growth and recurring profits.
Chairman’s Closing thanks:
On behalf of the Board, I wish to thank all employees, franchisees, and other business
partners for their efforts. I would also like to thank my Board colleagues for their support and
the work that they have performed during the year.
Finally, the Directors would like to thank all shareholders for their ongoing support. We look
forward to continuing our work to support management and direct the business for the year
ahead so that the Company can continue to grow.
I look forward to sharing our developments with you as we transition into a multi-brand group.
Data sourced from publicly available filings. Our datasets may not be complete. Automated analysis can produce errors. If you believe any data on this page is incorrect, please contact us at hello@nzxplorer.co.nz. For informational purposes only. Not investment advice.
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