Westlife continues its streak of record-breaking performance; posts highest ever quarterly sales of Rs. 5.38 bn in Q1 FY 23

Westlife Development Limited (BSE: 505533) (“WDL”), owner of Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt. Ltd. (“HRPL”), the master franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants in West and SouthIndia, has announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2022.

Westlife now has a total of331 restaurants across 48 cities as of June 2022 with 65 Drive-Thrus, 267 McCafés and 132 Experience of the Future (EOTF) restaurants.

* Extraordinary Expenses includes one-time expenses on account of assets written-off pertaining to restaurants relocation/closure and a onetime ESOP charge (Refer to Note 1 in financial results for further details)

The company witnessed a solid start to the first quarter of FY23 and recorded an all-time-high sales figure of Rs. 5,379million, which is a strong jump of 108% Y-o-Y. Westlife witnessed strong performances for three quarters in a row with more than Rs. 60 million of Average Annualized Sales per store and over 16% EBITDA margin led by Menu innovations andOmni channel strategy. It posted a cash PAT of over Rs.551 million. The same store sales growth (SSG) saw a significant increase of 97% Y-o-Y

The follow-through of the topline growth also gave WDL’s margins a strong boost as it recordedRestaurant Operating Margins (ROM)of 21.6% which is 4.5 times last year, a 68% jump from Q1 FY20. Operating EBITDA margins stood at 17.1% while the CashPAT margin was 10.2%. The company grew 41% over pre-Covid base of Q1FY20. More than 55% of the overall business growth came through digital channels. Westlife also witnessed highest quarterly sales on McDelivery Appwith over 18.5 million cumulative downloads.

On store expansion, 5 restaurants were added during the quarter with 12 restaurants in ground-break.Westlife plans to add 35-40 new restaurants in FY23 and over 200 new restaurants in the next 3-4 years with greater emphasis onsmaller and emerging cities.The company’s growth in both dine-in and convenience channels has been continually setting a new baseline for the business. While Dine-in grew five times from the last year, the growth in Convenience remains healthy at 13% YoY.

Mr. Amit Jatia, Vice-Chairman of Westlife Development Limited, said,“Ourbusiness performancein the lastthree quarters is a testament to the robust strategy we have been following as well as the trust and lovewe have managed to buildfor our iconic brand.We are proud to report our strong performance which reinforces the strength and resilience of our company. We have been making meaningful progress quarter on quarter against every strategic growth pillar of our omnichannel business, menu innovations, and store expansion plans.With a redefined cost structure, increased productivity, strong average unit volumes, and healthy restaurant cash flows, we are well-positioned to deliver accelerated business results and create long-term value for shareholders”.

While Westlife’smenu innovation strategy has madethe brand a leader in the snacking categoryin the West, with additionslike the Gourmet Burger range and McSpicy Fried Chicken in its South market, the company is strengthening its Meals proposition.With the inclusion of McSpicy Fried Chicken to its menu at its restaurants in South India, the company has entered the Rs. 5,000 crore chicken marketin the South and is working towards acquiring market leadership.