Sapphire Foods stock rises over 4% on fixing record date for stock split

Sapphire Foods stock surges: Shares of KFC operator, Sapphire Foods, rallied as much as 4.39 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 1,628.25 per share on Tuesday, August 20, 2024. 

The surge in Sapphire Foods share price came after the company announced that it has fixed September 5 as the ‘Record Date’ for stock-split.

A stock split, also known as a stock divide, results in an increase in the number of shares issued by a company. In a 2-for-1 split, for instance, investors receive twice the number of shares they previously owned, while the value of each share is halved.

In an exchange filing, Sapphire Foods said, “This is to inform you that the company has fixed Thursday, September 5, 2024 as the ‘Record Date’ for determining entitlement of equity shareholders for the purpose of subdivision/ split of existing equity shares of the company from 1 (One) equity share having face value of Rs 10 each fully paid up, into 5 equity shares having face value of Rs 2 each fully paid-up, ranking pari-passu in all respects, which was approved by the equity shareholders at 15th Annual General Meeting of the Company held on August 9, 2024.”

Q1FY25 performance

The consolidated restaurant sales grew 10 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 716.5 crore while its operating profit, or Ebitda rose 1 per cent to Rs 124.2 crore.

“Discretionary consumer spends seem to be subdued and similar to past few quarters trend. Sapphire KFC was impacted by the shift in the dates of the Navratri Festival compared to last year, while product and marketing interventions have led to improvements in the performance of both Sapphire Pizza Hut and Sri Lanka business,” Sapphire Foods said in a statement.

Overally, consolidated profit before tax (PBT) rose 1.7 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 11.8 crore while consolidated profit after tax (PAT) grew 1.1 per cent to Rs 8.2 crore.

Consolidated restaurant Ebitda margin, however, dropped 210 basis points (bps) annually to 15.1 per cent.

In Q1FY25, the company added 13 KFC and 1 Pizza Hut restaurants in India. Sapphire Foods total restaurant count is 886.

Sapphire Foods India Limited is a leading franchise operator for Yum Brands, managing KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell restaurants across India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.  Founded as Samarjit Advisors Private Limited in 2009, the company rebranded as Sapphire Foods India Private Limited in 2015 and later transitioned to a public limited company.

The company commenced operations in September 2015 by acquiring approximately 270 KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants across India and Sri Lanka.

At 1:00 PM, shares of Sapphire Foods were trading 0.11 per cent lower at Rs 1,558.05  per share. In comparison, BSE Sensex was trading 0.63 per cent higher at 80,932.72 levels.