Simbisa Brands Spends US$4.5 Million On New Outlets
One of Zimbabwe’s largest fast-food restaurant operators, Simbisa Brands, says it has so far spent US$4.5 million of the US$15.5 million the company aims to invest in expanding its operations.
Simbisa Brands, which owns restaurant chains including Pizza Inn, Fish Inn and Chicken Inn, as well as franchises for Nandos and Steers of South Africa, plans to open 45 new outlets in 2023.
The company also plans to open 30 more outlets across Africa and this brings the total capital expenditure to US$23 million.
Speaking in an interview with The Herald, Simbisa Brands chief executive, Warren Meares, said the expansion programme was progressing “quite rapidly” in the country. He said:
So far, we have spent US$4.5 million on new stores in the country and an additional US$11 million will be deployed to complete our expansion programme in the current financial year, which ends in June 2023.
We are happy about the progress that we have made as we have moved quite rapidly in Zimbabwe.
… At present, we have 291 stores across the country employing over 6 000 people.
In December 2022, Simbisa moved from the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) to Victoria Falls Stock Exchange (VFEX), which trades exclusively in United States dollars.
At the end of 2022, VFEX had a market capitalisation of US$411 million. | The Herald
