Page 9 - Restamax Plc Annual Report 2017

9

REVIEW BY THE CEO

A record year for growth ing our organisation and management. We will invest
more strongly in the management of business units,
The 2017 financial period will go down in our history as the boosting of acquisitions and the satisfaction of our
a year of strong growth. In January−December 2017, the customers and staff. We will, for example, expand the
turnover of our Group increased by almost 43 per cent, opportunities for training provided by Restamax Acad-
EBITDA by 15.5 per cent and operating profit by almost 20 emy for our staff. Sales, marketing and market knowl-
per cent in comparison with the previous financial period. edge will be given increasing value in our operations, and
for this we will strengthen our Executive Team during
The key figures for 2017 are rather positive. Once again 2018 with a Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).
we reached our long-term strategic goals, and during
2017 we already exceeded the turnover target of MEUR Becoming a leading restaurant company in
180 that we set for 2018. Although the second and third Northern Europe
quarters of 2017 with chilly and rainy summer weather
were challenging, which affected our EBITDA and EBIT In March 2018, we took a significant step in Restamax’s
margins, we were able to keep our key efficiency figures, history. We expanded our restaurant business to
such as our staff expenses and material margin, at a Denmark. We bought over 90% of the popular Danish
good level. Increased focus on and additional invest- Cock’s & Cows and The Bird concepts, which currently
ment in sales, marketing and streamlining operating include a total of 11 restaurants in key locations in
practices improved customer flow and increased average Copenhagen. The founders of the restaurants, Lasse
purchases. Wiwe and Daniel Knuttel, will act as partners in our
Danish subsidiary and continue in the operative
In 2017, we served up to 7 million customers and our management of business operations. Their knowhow
restaurant portfolio grew from 110 to more than 130 and market knowledge create a solid foundation for
restaurants. The final quarter of the year was quite strong growth in Denmark. In addition to food restau-
successful and culminated in the busiest-ever Christ- rants, we see great growth opportunities in the nightclub
mas party season. In October–December, we opened and entertainment restaurant business in Denmark.
more than 10 new restaurants and, despite their opening During summer 2018, both restaurant concepts will open
costs, we succeeded in catching up with the results of the new units in prime locations at the Copenhagen interna-
second and third quarters that were influenced by poor tional airport.
summer weather.
Our internationalisation will be further supported by
In 2017, we strengthened our position in familiar cities the joining of forces with Royal Ravintolat that we
and also expanded our market area to new cities. We reported in April 2018. At the end of 2017, the Royal
duplicated our familiar and popular concepts and Ravintolat Group included 35 unique restaurants, 21
coloured up the restaurant field with completely new Hanko Sushi restaurants, 7 Pizzarium restaurants and
business ideas. We opened Run Out escape rooms in 4 Sandro restaurants in different parts of Finland.
Tampere and Seinäjoki. At the beginning of 2018, we Other well-known brands of the Group famous for its
opened the Vihahuone and the completely dark escape premium restaurants include Savoy, Löyly, Elite, Palace
room, Dark Room, in Tampere. To our knowledge, these and Teatteri. Upon the realisation of the deal, I will take
are the first of their kind in Finland. charge of our company’s operations abroad as the CEO
of Restamax International. The CEO of Royal Ravintolat,
Smile Henkilöstöpalvelut grown into one of Aku Vikström, will assume the position of the CEO of the
the major players in the sector Group with responsibility for the company’s domestic
operations. We aim to be the leading restaurant operator
Smile Henkilöstöpalvelut Oy’s rate of growth acceler- in Northern Europe by 2020.
ated in 2017 both organically and as a result of corporate
acquisitions, and the company became a leading player In accordance with our strategy, we expect the Group’s
in the field. As a result of corporate acquisitions, Smile’s turnover to increase and profitability to remain on a good
market position strengthened significantly in South- level in both segments in the 2018 financial period. In the
west Finland, Satakunta, Kainuu, Helsinki and Pirkan- restaurant segment, without Royal Ravintolat, our goal
maa, especially in the fields of industry, construction is to reach a turnover of approximately MEUR 140, and
and restaurant business. In March 2018, we announced in labour hire a turnover of approximately MEUR 110, the
that we would be evaluating the listing of Smile on the total turnover being some MEUR 240, by the end of 2018.
Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd Stock Exchange.
Towards new targets

At the end of 2017, we published the Group’s new long-
term financial goals and strategy. Our goal is to reach a
total turnover of approximately MEUR 400 by the end
of 2020. Active work to reach this goal has begun. In Juha Helminen
January 2018, we announced that we would be revamp- CEO, Restamax Plc

Annual Report 2017