Alsea, the operator of brands such as Domino’s Pizza and Starbucks, managed to reverse the losses of 2020, in the midst of one of the worst crises that the restaurant industry has recorded in recent years. The company closed 2021 above 2020 and is already close to 2019 levels.
Net income for 2021 closed at 784 million pesos, compared to the loss of -3,985 million pesos reported at the end of 2020. This increase is mainly due to the increase of 5,650 million pesos in operating income, as a result of the recovery in sales after the reduction of restrictive measures related to the pandemic.
“The implementation of actions to reduce non-essential expenses for the operation and corporate expenses continued, achieving a reduction of 400 basis points in operating expenses, compared to 2020, mainly supported by the agreements reached in rents, the support government, higher labor productivity in all brands,” the company said in the report.
Alsea’s operating flow reached 12,311 million pesos in 2021, 78% more compared to the 6,918 million in 2020, and 2.4% below the 12,617.5 million that the company registered in 2019. Alsea highlighted that all the geographies where it has presence had positive operating flow at the end of 2021.
The restaurant and cafeteria operator reported to the Mexican Stock Exchange (BMV) net sales of 53,379 million pesos, a figure 38.6% higher than that of 2020. Compared to 2019, when net sales totaled 58,154 million pesos, the indicator remained 8.2% below.
Same store sales performed positively in all regions where the company operates. In South America, annual sales for 2021 registered an increase of 63.4%, while in Mexico there was a growth of 34.3%. The operation in Europe presented an increase of 12.7%.
The home delivery segment registered a 41.1% growth in sales in 2021, compared to 2020, reaching more than 43.1 million orders and a 23.4% share in Alsea’s consolidated sales during the past year.
Alsea Mexico’s sales represented 48.7% of the total result of 2021 and reported an increase of 36.4% in 2020, up to 26,015 million pesos, thanks to the recovery in consumption and the increase in transactions within restaurants throughout of the year.
Those from Europe represented 36.5% of the company’s consolidated sales. This region presented an increase in sales of 32.9%, reaching 18,414 million pesos compared to 13,861 million pesos in 2020.
Sales from the South American region represent 16.8% of the total in 2021 and at the end of the period there were a total of 622 corporate units and 42 sub-franchisee units. This segment presented an increase in sales of 60.8% reaching 8,950 million pesos compared to 5,568 million pesos in 2020.
Starbucks had a growth of 31.8% in Mexico, 25.3% in Chile and 60.2% in Colombia compared to the sales registered in the same period of 2019. Additionally, casual food brands, which have benefited from the increase in the mobility and traffic within its restaurants, presented higher sales levels, on average, between 95% and 105% in the last quarter of 2021, compared to the same period of 2020.
“We are very proud of the performance obtained during the fourth quarter, which registered a solid and sustained growth in sales for the fourth consecutive quarter, combined with an important growth in EBITDA, validating our commercial strategy, as well as the power and positioning of our brands,” said Alberto Torrado, chairman of Alsea’s board of directors.
