Famous Brands released a voluntary performance update yesterday. I remember a time not so long ago when anything below double-digit growth was considered disappointing. Times have certainly changed.
The company said that SA numbers were solid, the Middle East was ok and the UK operations were shocking. The Solid performance in SA consisted of like for like sales growth of 2.8%. Ouch.
The Middle Eastern operations are still in their infancy as they push through new brands in the area such as Debonairs, Steers, Wimpy and Mugg & Bean. Sales rose 11% in that region.
The UK as expected was horrible. That operation lost GBP 2.24m. Sometimes, the biggest decision an investor or company needs to make is when to sell a loser. Maybe that trigger needs to be pulled here?
On that note, they did release the following cautionary.
Famous Brands is giving consideration to strategic options relating to a subsidiary that may have a material impact on the price of the Company's share price.
Shareholders are requested to exercise caution when dealing in the Company's shares.
Let's watch and see.