Tantalizers Plc, a leading Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) in Nigeria has slowed its nine-month loss by 26.36 percent for the period ended in the first half of 2021 as revenue increased to near pre-COVID-19 levels.
The fast-food company reduced its losses by N64.58 million to N180.42 million in the year to September 2021 compared to N245million in the same period last year, as gathered from the financial results published by the Nigeria Exchange Group (NGX).
The company’s performance in the review period was on the back of revenue increase. Tantalizers Plc grew its revenue by 42.57 percent to N935.15million at the end of the ninth month of 2021 from N655.93million in the corresponding period of 2020.
Almost the same as the pre-COVID-19 revenue of 2019, the nine-month 2021 revenue reported by Tantalizers Plc was 0.79 percent less than the N942.58 million recorded in the same period of 2019.
With over 60 restaurants across Nigeria as of 30th April 2017, Tantalizers was severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the widespread economic vulnerabilities in the nation disrupted the business segment of the company.
The lockdown and the restriction placed on businesses operating in the on-trade market affected the on-premise demand and sales of these companies, which led to a decline in the sales and net revenue of Tantalizers Plc.
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However, the core business segment of Tantalizers was not the only segment affected, as other revenue-generating segments like Rent, advertisement and franchising declined over this period.
But as Nigeria’s economy fully re-opens following the ease in lockdown restrictions, the sales of QSR companies are returning to pre-COVID-19 levels even as low purchasing power persists on slow economic growth.
The breakdown of Tantalizers’ half-year result revealed how its cost of operation is eating most of its revenue. The company reported a 60.72 percent increase in its cost of sales to N 571.28million in the review period from N355.44 million the previous year.
The company, however, reported an increase in its gross profit, a measure of the company’s efficiency rate, by 21.07 percent to N363.81 million in the nine months of 2021 from N 300.49 million in the corresponding period of 2020.
Tantalizers is one of the leading Nigerian fast-food restaurant chains. It opened its first location around 1997 in Festac Town, Lagos. This first location was initially a small neighbourhood restaurant serving hamburgers.
Success at the first location led to an expansion that has seen the company and its franchisees open additional locations in cities such as Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja, and Port Harcourt.
Tantalizers serves Nigerian fast-food staples such as meat pies, scotch eggs, chicken, jollof rice, fried rice, cakes, and hamburgers.
