Business
Pizza Pizza Royalty Income Fund Announces July Distribution and Second Quarter Sales Growth
TORONTO, July 21 /CNW/ - Pizza Pizza Royalty Income Fund (the "Fund") (TSX: PZA.UN) today announc...
About this update from Pizza Pizza Royalty Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\n\nTORONTO, July 21 /CNW/ - Pizza Pizza Royalty Income Fund (the "Fund")\n(TSX: PZA.UN) today announced a cash distribution of $0.0775 per unit for the\nmonth of July, 2008. The distribution will be payable to unitholders of record\nat the close of business on July 31, 2008, and will be paid on August 15,\n2008.\n\n\nSales Growth\n\n\nPizza Pizza Limited posted same store sales growth (SSSG) of 1.3% for the\nsecond quarter ended June 29, 2008 when compared to the same quarter in 2007;\nyear-to-date SSSG is 2.7%. SSSG is the key driver of yield growth for Fund\nunitholders and includes results of Pizza 73 restaurants.\n\n\nSystem Sales for the 609 restaurants in the Royalty Pool increased 24%\nfor the quarter to $114.3 million compared to $92.2 million for the 531\nrestaurants in the Royalty Pool for the same quarter in 2007. By brand, sales\nfrom the 559 Pizza Pizza restaurants were $94.2 million and sales from the 50\nPizza 73 restaurants were $20.1 million. In addition to the positive same\nstore sales growth, system sales increased as a result of adding 37 net, new\nrestaurants to the Royalty Pool on January 1, 2008, plus the addition of 41\nPizza 73 restaurants in July 2007.\n\n\n"Pizza Pizza is pleased to report continued, positive sales growth. Our\nOntario consumers continue to be very price-sensitive and we have met this\ndemand with competitive value initiatives. This quarter's marketing strategies\nresulted in significant increases in pizza unit sales when compared to the\nsame quarter last year", said Curt Feltner, Chief Financial Officer.\n\n\nAbout the Fund\n\n\nThe Fund is a limited purpose, open-ended trust established under the\nlaws of Ontario. The Fund, indirectly through the Pizza Pizza Royalty Limited\nPartnership (the "Partnership"), has acquired the trademarks and trade names\nused by Pizza Pizza Limited ("the Company") in its Pizza Pizza and Pizza 73\nrestaurants. The Pizza Pizza trademarks were licensed to the Company in 2005\nfor 99 years, for which the Company pays the Fund a royalty equal to 6% of the\nsystem sales of its Pizza Pizza restaurants in the Royalty Pool. There are 559\nPizza Pizza restaurants in the Royalty Pool for 2008. On July 24, 2007, the\nPartnership acquired the trademarks and other intellectual property of\nPizza 73 (the "Pizza 73 Ri...