Pandemic gobbles a full slice out of Richmond-based Boston Pizza's returns to unit holders

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      COVID-19 has taken a serious toll on eat-in restaurant companies across North America. And Richmond-based Boston Pizza is no exception.

      As of June 30, approximately 370 outlets were operating with reduced capacity, according to a company statement released today.

      And franchise sales from restaurants in the Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund (BPI) were down 50.6 percent from April to June, compared to the same period last year.

      Same-restaurant sales were down 53.5 percent in the second quarter compared to April to June of 2019.

      “Approximately 95% of all Boston Pizza restaurants which were open prior to the COVID-19 pandemic have reopened their dining rooms, sports bars and patios to-date with reduced seating capacity, and appropriate physical distancing measures as permitted by provincial health authorities," BPI president Jordan Holm said in a news release today (August 14).

      "Overall guest traffic remains affected by various local regulations and changes in guest behaviour," he continued. "However, we are pleased with the improvement in sales trends that we are experiencing since the reopenings of our restaurants."

      BPI will not pay distributions to unit holders before October 1. That's due to a condition in its pandemic recovery plan arranged with its bank.

      "The Fund generated Distributable Cash of negative $2.2 million for the Period, compared to $7.3 million for the second quarter of 2019," BPI said in its statement.  

      BPI units closed at $7.86 today in Toronto, up 10.2 percent from the morning bell.

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