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FAT Brands CEO: 'We are poised for growth'

March 28, 2018

FAT Brands Inc., parent company of Fatburger, and Buffalo's Express, said Tuesday that despite reporting a net loss of $613,000, or $0.07 per share in 2017, it was a successful year for the brand.  

"Not only did we form the company, but we successfully completed an IPO, acquired the Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouse brands, and signed a definitive agreement to purchase Hurricane Grill & Wings Hurricane," Andy Wiederhorn, president and CEO of FAT Brands, said in the release. "Our company's foundation is strong, our platform is highly scalable and FAT Brands is poised for growth."

The purpose of the company, which was formed as a Delaware corporation in March as a wholly owned subsidiary of Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc., was to complete the IPO and to acquire and continue certain businesses previously conducted by subsidiaries of FCCG. 

FAT Brands continued strong business momentum in 2017, with positive same-store sales growth domestically across all of brands. 

"Trends at our flagship brand, Fatburger were particularly strong, with adjusted same-store sales growth in core domestic markets up 7.4 percent year-over-year, marking Fatburger's 8th consecutive year of positive, domestic same-store sales growth," Wiederhorn said. "These results were driven by continued strength in delivery, as well as a strong reception to the initial launch of the Impossible Burger, a plant-based burger which tastes, cooks, and smells like fresh ground beef.

"We are pleased to report that we have seen the momentum from 2017 carry into 2018 across most of our brands, with Fatburger reporting system-wide same store sales growth of over 6 percent, Buffalo's up 0.2 percent and Ponderosa system-wide down 0.6 percent year-to-date."

Wiederhorn expects to close on the Hurricane acquisition in the second quarter of 2018. 

"Pro forma for the Hurricane acquisition and after full integration of expected synergies, we continue to expect annualized revenue (next 12 months beginning in the third quarter of 2018) to exceed $18.5 million, and annualized EBITDA of greater than $11 million, or $1.10 per share," he said. "Excluding Hurricane, we expect annualized revenues from our Fatburger, Buffalo's, and Ponderosa brands to total $14 million, resulting in EBITDA of $7 million."