For Immediate Release Toronto Stock Exchange: BPF.UN
BOSTON PIZZA ROYALTIES INCOME FUND ANNOUNCES SYSTEM-WIDE GROSS SALES
RECORDS OF $241 MILLION FOR THE FOURTH QUARTER AND $975 MILLION FOR THE YEAR
Top line results for 2013 driven by 12 new restaurant openings and 1.5%
Same Store Sales Growth
Highlights
- Record System-Wide Gross Sales[i] for the
Period of $241.5 million and for the Year of $974.8 million.
- Franchise
Sales[ii] from
royalty pool restaurants for the Period of $183.7 million and for the Year
of $755.4 million.
- Same
store sales growth of 1.5% and Distributable Cash[iii] per Unit
increase of 2.0% for the Year despite comparably poor weather and
challenging economic conditions experienced in the latter part of 2013.
- Trustees
declare January 2014 distribution to unitholders of 10.2 cents per Unit.
- Boston
Pizza opened 12 new full service restaurant locations in 2013, including
six in Western Canada, four in Ontario and two in Quebec.
VANCOUVER,
BC, February 7, 2014 - Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (the “Fund”) and Boston Pizza International
Inc. (“BPI”) reported financial
results today for the fourth quarter period from October 1, 2013 to December 31,
2013 (the “Period”) and for the fiscal
year period from January 1, 2013 to December 31, 2013 (the “Year”). A copy of this press release,
the annual consolidated financial statements and related Management’s
Discussion and Analysis of the Fund and BPI are available at www.sedar.com and www.bpincomefund.com. The Fund will host a conference call to discuss the
results on February 7, 2014 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific Time (11:30 a.m. Eastern
Time). The call can be accessed by dialling 1-800-319-4610 or 604-638-5340. A
replay will be available until March 6, 2014 by dialling 1-800-319-6413 or
604-638-9010 and entering the pin
code: 4452 followed by the # sign.
Same store sales growth (“SSSG”), a key driver of distribution
growth for unitholders of the Fund, was negative 1.5% for the Period and positive
1.5% for the Year compared to positive 2.2% and positive 3.3%, respectively, for
the same periods in 2012. Franchise Sales, the basis upon which royalties are
paid by BPI to the Fund, exclude
revenue from the sale of liquor, beer, wine and tobacco and approved national
promotions and discounts. On a Franchise Sales basis, SSSG was negative 2.3%
for the Period and positive 1.4% for the Year compared to positive 3.0% and positive
3.4%, respectively, for the same periods in 2012. The negative SSSG for the
Period was principally due to poor weather experienced in many parts of the
country as well as challenging general economic conditions. Positive SSSG for the Year was principally
due to higher take-out and delivery sales resulting from continued promotion of
Boston Pizza’s online ordering system and menu re-pricing partially offset by the
challenges noted above experienced in the latter part of the Year. Franchise
Sales of restaurants in the royalty pool were $183.7 million for the Period and
$755.4 million for the Year compared to $185.2 million and $731.5 million in
the same periods, respectively, in 2012. The decrease in Franchise Sales for
the Period is attributed to the negative SSSG. The increase in Franchise Sales for the Year is attributed to the positive
SSSG and the addition of five net new restaurants to the Fund’s royalty pool on January 1, 2013.
“We
are pleased with Boston Pizza’s record system-wide sales of $975 million for
2013, which was achieved through positive same store sales growth and the
opening of 12 new full service Boston Pizza restaurants during the Year” said
Mark Pacinda, President and CEO of BPI. “These record results were reached despite
some challenges in 2013 including comparably poorer weather in many parts of
the country and a weakening of general economic conditions that has negatively
impacted Canadian retail sales, particularly in the second half of 2013.”