Zimbabwe’s largest fast-food restaurant operator, Simbisa Brands, has announced a plan to open more restaurant outlets in Kenya as it aims to woo fast food customers and outdo rivals.
The company — which operates quick service restaurants including Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn, Bakers Inn and Creamy Inn - said its Kenya business had witnessed increased traffic with a positive outlook and that expansion would help initiate more growth opportunities.
“We have a major plan for growth in Kenya. We are looking at Kenya as a major market where we want to expedite our growth there,” Simbisa Brands managing director Warren Meares told Zimbabwe media.
“Zambia is also another good market but we feel we need to do a lot to grow that.”
The Africa-focused fast-food firm had earlier said it set its sights on expanding in African markets to take on international brands like McDonald’s and Burger King.Zimbabwe and Kenya currently have the largest number of Simbisa restaurant outlets. It has 193 counters in Zimbabwe and 205 abroad.
In Kenya, Simbisa opened eight new outlets and closed four, bringing the total to 121 as at June 30 last year.
The firm recently invested $4.3 million (about Sh446.7 million) in the expansion of its operations in Kenya, Zimbabwe and Mauritius.“The combined revenue for the regional operations (Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, DRC and Mauritius) increased by 10 per cent to $30.2 million (about Sh3.1 billion) in 2016, (2015: $27.4 million) driven by a gratifying performance from our largest market, Kenya, and the contribution of our expansion activities in Mauritius,” said Simbisa Brands chairman Addington Chinake recently.
Mr Chinake noted then that regional operations in Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mauritius contributed $58.4 million (about Sh6 billion) to group revenues last year, up from $54,5 million (about Sh5.6 billion) in 2016.
The firm is planning a secondary listing at the London Stock Exchange (LSE) junior market to raise capital for expansion and potential foreign acquisition.
It posted a 26 per cent net profit growth for the year ended June 30 2017, buoyed by performance of its Kenya and Zimbabwe units.
The company reported a net income of $6.35 million (Sh656.1 million) in the period up from $5 million (Sh516 million) in 2016 driven by an eight per cent growth in revenue.
Revenue grew from $146.6 million (Sh15.1 billion) in the same period last year to $158.9 million (Sh16.4 billion) as the group opened up new outlets across the region.
