AIMprospector
3 roll outs on menu at Fulham Shore Fulham Shore is the AIM-quoted plc behind the Franco Manca and The Real Greek restaurant chains. The company is led by David Page, a former Chief Executive of Pizza Express. Mr Page is one of a collection of UK businessmen that has achieved almost revered status among investors for their ability to successfully roll out themed eateries. Like his peers Luke Johnson and the Kaye family, Mr Page attracts a premium price to the shares of any restaurant company that he gets involved with. The maths behind investing in roll outs is simple. As existing sites become profitable, the cash generated is used to build more sites. As a chain matures, cashflows within the business increase as initial fit-out expenses decline as a percentage of revenues. Fulham Shore only began trading in November 2013 following the acquisition of a single Franco Manca franchise in central London. In October of last year, money was raised for the acquisition of The Real Greek restaurant group (seven sites at acquisition) and Fulham Shore moved to AIM. In April of this year, the company undertook another fundraising to buy 99% of the equity www.aimprospector.co.uk
of Franco Manca Holdings Limited (formerly Rocca Limited), bringing all of the Franco Manca restaurants and the brand under Fulham Shore’s control. Another two London Franco Manca sites were soon added. With final results at the end of July, Fulham Shore announced that the company was operating 24 restaurants, comprising nine The Real Greek and fifteen Franco Manca. The Franco Manca website currently lists seventeen trading restaurants. The Real Greek website lists nine. An eighteenth Franco Manca is listed as soon to open.
distinctive in having a very short menu Fulham Shore’s most recent results contained only six months’ contribution from The Real Greek. The balance sheet showed cash of £3.9m. Another £4.75m was added to this via a placing at 11p soon after the year closed. Franco Manca was purchased for £6.2m in cash and the issue of around £21.3m worth of shares. Franco Manca is distinctive in having a very short menu, with a selection of just six pizzas. Pizza Express has 29. A tomato, mozzarella and basil pizza at Franco Manca is just £5.90. That’s around two pounds cheaper than the similar pizza at Prezzo. There are only two side dishes available at Franco Manca and diners can drink filtered water free. Shareholders will be delighted
a proven restaurant roll out winner to know that this restraint hasn’t prevented the chain quickly becoming very popular, with TripAdvisor users frequently ranking Franco Manca among the top 10% of all London restaurants. The Real Greek enjoys similar ratings. Mr Page has already earned his spurs with successes at Pizza Express, Gourmet Burger Kitchen and Bombay Bicycle Club. Shares in Fulham Shore look a great way to back a proven restaurant roll out winner.
Update On Monday, Fulham Shore announced that a new franchised restaurant had been acquired. ‘Bukowski’ is a charcoal grill burger restaurant. Fulham Shore will be opening a franchise in Soho. Fitout costs for the new site will be £500k. Bukowski also enjoys strongly positive reviews on TripAdvisor. Fulham Shore (LON:FUL) FOR Top management Expanding fast AGAINST High valuation Unproven outside South-East Market cap Bid:offer P/E (forecast) Yield (forecast) 52week low:high
£97m 16p:16.5p 31.7 0 7.8p:24p
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