Franchise Brands plc (LON:FRAN), an international multi-brand franchise business, will hold its Annual General Meeting today at 11.00am, at which Stephen Hemsley, Executive Chairman, will provide the following update:
“The Group has benefited from resilient underlying demand for its essential reactive and planned services. While the market continues to be challenging, the performance in Q1 has generally improved since the start of the year and, encouragingly, a number of businesses delivered strong performances in March.
At Pirtek, the franchise businesses experienced System sales growth year-on-year. We have seen a gradual improvement in our more cyclical sectors and some early signs that we may see additional larger project work come through later in the year.
In the Water & Waste Services division, market conditions are challenging, however, the demand for essential reactive services has remained resilient. The division continues to benefit from efficiencies driven by integration initiatives.
Filta North America experienced strong growth in System sales year-on-year driven by good traction from the FiltaMax strategic growth initiative and, in particular, from expanding the range of services. The used cooking oil price strengthened throughout the first quarter and, together with increased volume, delivered a much-improved year-on-year contribution.
The autonomous B2C Division that includes the ChipsAway, Ovenclean and Barking Mad consumer brands continues to trade respectably despite the ongoing difficult franchise recruitment environment.
Good progress is being made with the “One Franchise Brands” strategic initiative to enhance sales, create an efficient overhead structure and drive operational gearing. The major IT projects of a single Group-wide finance system and the roll out of Vision across Pirtek are progressing on time and on budget.
While challenging macroeconomic conditions persist in many of our key markets, including more recently the uncertainty created by the recent US trade/tariff announcements, we are controlling the controllables by driving cost efficiencies and maximising Group-wide sales opportunities. We also continue to reduce our sector dependency by diversifying into growth markets.”
