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Unfavourable movement of regional currencies against the United States Dollar saw Simbisa Brands post a five percent decline in revenue to $108 million in the nine months to June 30, 2016. Simbisa Brands Limited is a public company that owns, operates and franchises Intellectual Property Rights of a basket of Quick Service Restaurant brands such as Chicken Inn, Nandos, Creamy Inn and Pizza Inn.

The company currently operates restaurants in 11 countries across Africa with future ambitions of further expansion across the region.

The group’s regional operations contributed $41 million to total revenue during the period under review but the weakening regional currencies against the US Dollar continued to have a negative impact on the topline.

Simbisa reported an after tax profit of $3 million, a 23 percent decrease from $3,9 million of the comparable period last year as regional operations performed below expectations.

Operating profit fell 9,2 percent due to pre-operating costs incurred in the Mauritius market.

Simbisa Brands group finance director Salim Eceolaza told analysts on Tuesday at its maiden briefing that Zimbabwe has remained the largest contributor to the group’s performance making up 62 percent of total revenue for the period.

“Despite the challenges in our operating environment, revenue grew in all regions with the exception of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia compared to the prior comparable nine months.

“The biggest challenge in the period was local currency weakness against the US dollar,” said Mr Eceolaza.

Simbisa Brands chief executive Basil Dionisio said unfavourable foreign currency movements against the US$ continue to negatively impact the results of regional operations.

He however said despite this, expansion in the region was critical for the group in order to spread the risks over different markets and to achieve its goal of spreading its footprint into Africa.

“We remain cautiously optimistic and our strategy is to find the right local partner , the right locations, choosing the right brand from our portfolio and then finding the right menus and products that match local tastes,” said Mr Dionisio

Simbisa opened 17 counters in Kenya taking the overall store count to 116 as at June 30, 2016. Kenya is the second largest market after Zimbabwe contributing 25 percent to group revenue.

Mr Dionisio said the business in Zimbabwe continues to be resilient, despite the current macro-economic challenges.