"Americana" .. from a historical double inclusion to the loss of 20 billion Riyals from the highlight of its market value

In December 2022, ‘American restaurants’ entered the Saudi stock exchanges and Abu Dhabi as the first double insertion in the two markets. On that day, investors welcomed the new expatriates who owned the largest restaurant network in the Middle East and North Africa, and its market value at that time amounted to more than 22.5 billion Riyals. But only two years later it welcomes a state of caution and waiting. The share has fallen by more than 11% since the inclusion, despite the financial distributions, and the company lost more than 20 billion Riyals from its market peak in September 2023. A story of a drop of a top of 39 billion Riyale in mid -September last year, “Americana” reached its market climax at 39.2 billion Riyals. At the time, the market seemed to be celebrating a successful expansion and strong operational leadership. But reality soon changed. In less than a year, the arrow has lost its momentum, to the lowest levels since supply, and the company is currently registering a market value that is no more than 18.5 billion Riyale. Behind the numbers is a more complicated story. The net profit for 2024 fell by 39%, and turnover fell by 9%. It is not just seasonal fluctuations, but a reflection of urgent geopolitical tension, a recession in demand for consumers and the weakness of foreign currencies that eat from the margins of profitability. Even the expansion strategy, which increased the number of stores from 2435 to 2590 within a year, was not sufficient to compensate for this decline, especially with the increase in operating fees and the application of corporate taxes in the emirates. Despite these challenges a recovery plan despite the opposite winds, Americana did not withdraw the expansion plans. On the contrary, it has announced that it has acquired the rights of “pizza hut” in the sultanate of Oman (46 branches), and intends to launch “Krisby Karim” in Morocco and “Bings Coffee” in Abu Dhabi. The purpose: diversifying brands and the expansion of geographical presence. But expansion alone is not enough. It relies on digital transformation and ‘operational power’ to revive growth and increase efficiency, in an effort to build a long -term sustainable experience. With the start of the trading of the company’s shares in the Abu Dhabi Financial Market, the company chairman, Mohamed Al -Aabbar, told Al -Sharq that “the size of the restaurant market in the region is about $ 55 billion, while our share is no more than two billion dollars,” considering that this share is “unspoken”. Therefore; “I see growing in this area while keeping new activities.” He then added that his company aims to open 200 to 300 places annually. An expected growth … but on the circumstances of ‘Al -Jazeera Capital’ estimates give a glimpse into the hope of the company’s financial performance this year, and expect the net profit from the first quarter to rise by 85.6% to 195 million Riyals, driven by an increase in sales and profitable margins. But Mohamed Al -laithi, a market analyst in ‘numbers’, warns that operating costs, especially rent, can continue to click on profits if not managed with caution. This indicates that returning to real growth requires more than opening new branches: The company must restore the confidence of the consumer, especially in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are the two markets that count the company a lot amid a fierce competition in the sector. “Americana” stations .. and its prospects were established in Kuwait in 1964 “American restaurants”. Now the group is running global brands in 12 markets throughout the Middle East and North Africa, such as: Kentucky restaurants, “pizza hut”, “Hardz”, “Krisby Karim”, and “Fridays”, in addition to the edited brands owned by it, so: “Wimbi”. In 1984, the group was included in the Kuwait Stock Exchange, and in 2016, Emirati businessman Mohammed Al -Aabbar and the Saudi public investment fund acquired the “Americana” group, and the company removed its shares from the Kuwait stock exchange in 2018. Financial performance drops, but the expansion has not stopped. The big question now: Will it be successful in transforming a promising inclusion story to a sustainable success story? Or will you be trapped in the whirling of market fluctuations? The first quarter of 2025 may hold the answer.