Americana reports 27% jump in 2022 net profit on revenue boost

New stores openings supported income growth, says largest quick service restaurant operator in the Mena region

Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. Photo: Americana

Americana, the largest quick service restaurant operator in the Mena region, reported a more than 27 per cent rise in 2022 net income as revenue climbed with the addition of new restaurants.

Net income for the 12-month period to the end of December climbed to $259.23 million, up from $203.92 recorded at the end of 2021, the company said in a statement to the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, where its shares are traded.

Revenue for the reporting period climbed to $2.37 billion, an almost 16 per cent increase on an annual basis, “mainly driven by like-for-like growth and new store openings”, Americana said in its preliminary financial results filing on Tuesday.

Assets at the end of January-December period climbed to $1.34 billion, up from $1.09 billion at the end of 2021.

Americana, which raised $1.8 billion from its initial public offering in November last year, dual-listed on Saudi Arabia's main Tadawul market and the ADX, the Arab world's two largest stock markets.

It started trading in December after Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, and Mohamed Alabbar, founder and managing director of Dubai's Emaar Properties, bought a 30 per cent stake in the company's issued share capital.

The deal to sell more than 2.52 billion shares drew strong demand from institutional and retail investors, generating $105 billion in orders. The transaction was about 58 times oversubscribed, the company said in a statement at the time.

Americana's IPO was the largest in Saudi Arabia in 2022 and it was also the first company to be dually listed in the kingdom and the UAE.

Americana's chairman Mohamed Alabbar, centre, rings the bell at the ADX. Victor Besa / The National

Americana, founded in Kuwait in 1964, introduced fast-food restaurants in the region in 1970. It was previously traded on the Kuwait Stock Exchange but delisted its shares in 2017. It is the largest out-of-home dining operator in 12 countries across the Mena region and Kazakhstan, and operates restaurant chains such as Pizza Hut and KFC.

The company intends to maintain a “robust dividend policy” and make a partial dividend distribution of about 75 per cent of net profit attributable to the parent company for the second half of 2022.

It expects to pay the dividend in cash during the first half of 2023.

From this year, Americana intends to adopt an annual dividend distribution policy and plans to distribute a minimum of 50 per cent of its profit in dividends, the company said last year.