MAX’S Group Inc., the country’s largest casual-dining-restaurant operator, on Monday said it incurred a consolidated net loss of P56 million last year, as a result of the costs incurred on the acquisition and integration with the operations of Pancake House Inc.
The figure already includes the combined full-year operations of Max’s and Pancake House, a company that the Trota group purchased last year from the Lorenzo family. Last year the combined company booked a net income of P260.8 million on a proforma basis.
Revenues for last year was at P9.55 billion, slightly higher than the P9.22 billion in 2013, while core net income for 2014 reached P154.1 billion. For the year, Max’s said it will allot between P500 million and P550 million in capital expenditures that will be used to open 80 to 90 new branches in the Philippines.
The amount, however, does not include its expansion overseas of up to eight new stores of mostly Max’s and Yellow Cab brand in the Middle East and North America, where there are concentration of overseas Filipinos. The company normally uses the Max’s Restaurant brand when it expands to North America, Max’s and Yellow Cab pizza in the Middle East and Pancake House in Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific.
“We focused on investments in restaurant operations and on revamping key brands, which has always been our strategy for long-term growth,” Dave Fuentebella, the company’s chief financial officer, said in a briefing with reporters.
Fuentebella said Max’s expenditures last year included marketing costs, write-off of doubtful accounts receivables, one-off fees, and expenses for kitchen upgrades, repairs and maintenance, along with the revamping of new and key branches of Pancake House, Teriyaki Boy and Dencio’s.
Company officials, however, said it will report to the Philippine Stock Exchange Max’s income for the last two months of the year.
Fuentebella said that since Max’s acquisition of Pancake House entailed merging the two organizations, it secured regulatory approval to file a report in 2014 to contain mostly Pancake House’s financials.
“We put in a lot of resources in making sure that all aspects of our business—from the kitchen to the store and menu layout, to the actual products and services of our various brands—are taken to the next level in terms of quality and performance,” said Robert Trota, the company’s president and chief executive officer.
Last year, the company closed down 33 stores, Trota said. The company did not give a breakdown of the stores but a Max’s official said most of these were from the Pancake House group.
The company said the integration of the two saw Max’s taking over the operations of Pancake House. It had to undergo a comprehensive revamping program to align its portfolio of brands and consolidate operations.
These included revamping the stores “enhancing top brands, reinvigorating, selling, converting or discontinuing underperformers and upgrading service platforms.”
“Operational integration is on track with the company’s overall development strategy, and we look forward to unlocking the potential of a larger group and to propelling our brands to the next phase of growth,” Trota said.
1 comment
Gusto ko lang chicken itself lang, all the restaurants mentioned aboved sucks..food is awful, distaste and cheap quality, I don’t even bother now to look at their ads or menu.