From Simply Wall St:

 Collins Foods CKF

 Independent Non-Executive Director recently bought AU$77k worth of stock on the 4th of September, Mark Hawthorne bought around 10k shares on-market at roughly AU$7.71 per share. This transaction amounted to 56% of their direct individual holding at the time of the trade. 

• This was the largest purchase by an insider in the last 3 months.
• Insiders have collectively bought AU$108k more in shares than they have sold in the last 12 months.

Key points:

1. Profit gains on higher sales were more than offset by the impact of persistent inflation on cost of sales, labour and energy
2. Same store sales (SSS) performance continued to reflect weaker consumer sentiment in Australia and Europe and the impacts arising from the conflict in the Middle East, which has affected sales in the Netherlands
3. H1 FY25 margins are expected to contract relative to prior year

Collins Foods received that amount in JobKeeper subsidies from the Australian Government following a decline of more than 30 per cent in revenue in its Sizzler Australia division’s nine remaining restaurants early in the pandemic - the threshold for access to the Federal Government's stimulus program designed to keep people in jobs. Of the three restaurant brands that Collins Foods operates, Sizzler was hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based around a casual dine-in concept, and unlike Collins Foods’ KFC and Taco Bell restaurants, Sizzler revenues and earnings were slow to recover from peak COVID-19 impacts, and the Sizzler business continued operating at a loss. After careful monitoring of performance during subsequent months, it became apparent that with reduced seating capacity and the inability to provide its signature buffets for the foreseeable future, the Sizzler business model faced insurmountable obstacles to re-attaining viability in Australia. Accordingly, the Board decided in October 2020 to close the remaining Sizzler restaurants in Australia over the following months.....

“Our additional decision, announced today, to return the initial $1.8 million in JobKeeper payments as outlined in our half-yearly results, is an extension of this approach, and in line with one of our corporate values of “Positive Impact”. We were also pleased to be able to redeploy over 90 Sizzler employees into our KFC and Taco Bell restaurants.

“We are fortunate that our other restaurant brands in Australia, KFC and Taco Bell, have successfully navigated this difficult period. Both brands have successfully adapted to contactless channels like drive-thru and delivery and facilitated strong overall sales growth for the first half of the financial year for the Company. And of course, we thank the Australian public for their continued support during these challenging times.”

DISC: I hold

Passing this on in case anyone is interested:

Market Eye is hosting a group briefing by Drew O’Malley (CEO) and Nigel Williams (CFO) of Collins Foods Limited (ASX: CKF) following release of the company’s FY20 results: 

1 July 2020, 10:00am – 10:45am (includes Q&A)

Pre-registration link:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_39HaSqEUSrKIgtsUyYuNXg

Attendance is free, but you must pre-register to be able to attend.