Back on construction targets, to complete 50 restaurants this year – Burger King India

Update on the Indian Equity Market:

On Thursday, NIFTY ended at 17,517 (+0.3%) as it closed near the opening level of 17,524. Among the sectoral indices, MEDIA (+3.7%), FMCG (+1.4%), and OIL&GAS (+1.0%) ended higher, whereas BANK (-0.5%), FINANCIAL SERVICES (-0.5%), and PRIVATE BANK (-0.4%) led the losers. Among the stocks, ITC (+4.9%), L&T (+3.0%), and ASIANPAINT (+2.2%) led the gainers while HDFCBANK (-1.8%), TITAN (-1.4%), and NESTLEIND (-1.1%) led the losers.

Excerpts of an interview with Mr. Rajeev Varman, CEO of Burger King India (BURGERKING) with CNBC TV18 on 7^th December 2021:

• The company is back on its construction targets with over 20 restaurants under construction, and 38 restaurants in the pipe line. The company plans to complete the construction of around 50 restaurants this year. Its target is to build 70 restaurants in next year, and keep on building in the similar manner in upcoming years.
• Company’s target is to build 700 restaurants which it will complete by December 2027.
• Burger King India (BKI) has launched its café in 4 of its restaurants, 10 cafés in construction, and plans to build more cafés along with building new restaurants. The company plans to build 75 cafés by the end of 2022.
• The Company is going to launch new products specifically for its cafés. It plans to serve opportunities that it will receive at lunch and dinner peak time, and the time in between. It calls its coffee products as ‘Coffee Uncomplicated’, and provides a product named coffee shots for which it has received good reviews.
• In the 2QFY22, the company reported 65% growth over its pre-covid numbers through delivery. The company has recovered 65% of it’s dine-in orders in 2QFY22.
• The company has over 1.5 million app downloads which it believes will gradually grow. It has made available its stunner menu on the app, which it considers as entry level point for its consumers and is available only through app.
• The CEO feels that BKI’s upcoming acquisition of BK Indonesia will bring synergies as BKI will add 200 restaurants in 1 day. The company will also experience synergies in terms of Capex, as it plans to build 35 new restaurants every year in Indonesia after completing the acquisition.

Asset Multiplier Comments

• The company is likely to remain non-profitable for few more quarters as it is currently undergoing organic and inorganic expansion.
• Currently within the QSR companies, Westlife Development and Jubilant Foodworks have a higher scale of operations, and have started generating positive free cash flow in the last 2 years.
• As the world is concerned with fear of Omicron Covid-19 variant spread, it may lead to stricter sanitation rules within the country, and may also result in lockdowns if the conditions worsen. This may delay the planned execution of building new restaurants.

Consensus Estimate: (Source: market screener website)

• The closing price of BURGERKING was ₹ 162/- as on 9-Dec-2021.  Its consensus earnings estimates are -2.0/0.01/0.94 for FY22E/FY23E/FY24E respectively. As the earnings are close to zero, we don’t arrive at a meaningful PE multiple.
• The consensus target price is ₹ 198/-.

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