Investors do not like this: Vapiano goes deeper into the disadvantages

economy

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

The Vapiano chain of restaurants continues to boast of commercial expectations. Sales in the region are decreasing. The loss widens. An austerity program should improve the situation.

The Vapiano gourmet chain slid deeper into the red. Like-for-like sales in the rest of Europe declined in the third quarter, as margins deteriorated. Vapiano had issued a warning about his sales and profits for the second time in just over two months the previous night. On the stock market, the papers have collapsed.

The Cologne catering company, which offers pizza and Italian pasta, is expecting a "clearly negative" result for the whole year. In the long run, however, it should increase, as shown in the third quarter financial report. Since October, the company has resumed its activity. An austerity program should give the first positive results from 2019.

Less operating – Sweden overloaded

From July to September, operating income before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), the main index of the company, decreased by almost one-fifth to 8.6 million euros. The net result is an adjusted loss of 5.4 million euros, after a profit of 2.3 million the previous year. The reported net loss increased to € 11.4 million from € 3.3 million previously. Consolidated revenue grew from 82.3 million euros to 96.3 million euros. However, same-store sales decreased 1.9%.

Activity in Sweden, which was already impacting second-quarter results, underperformed expectations in the third quarter. "In order to rapidly increase profitability, we have put in place a program of measures aimed at increasing operational excellence in our key markets, in addition to focusing on the recovery in Sweden," said Jochen Halfmann , general manager of Vapiano.

Downhill share

After forecasts were lowered the day before, Vapiano now expects an adjusted EBITDA of 34 to 38 million euros for 2018. In sales, Vapiano now wants to reach 375 to 385 million euros. euros. On this figure, the company had reached 271.4 million euros after the first nine months, which represents a good 70%.

On a like-for-like basis, the difference in new sales forecasts is between a 0.5% decrease and a 0.5% increase. In addition, Vapiano will only open 32 to 34 new sites by the end of the year. Up to now, 38 new stores have been planned. Already in the second quarter, the weak development in Sweden and the low appetite for pizza and pasta during the summer heat and during the World Cup weighed on the results.

Since May 2018, the stock is mainly downhill. In total, Vapiano shares have lost about 70% since the first trading day of June 27, 2017. Last week, Vapiano denied media reports that Vapiano was pulling out of the stock market.

Source: n-tv.de