Good evening, everyone, and thank you for joining us for Americana Restaurants' Q1 2026 earnings call. I am Pujeet Parekh, Head of Investor Relations and Business Development, and it is my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the entire management team.

We entered 2026 carrying strong momentum from 2025, with continued focus on disciplined growth, profitability expansion, and long-term value creation. During the first quarter, we delivered strong revenue growth, significant margin improvement, and continued progress across our strategic priorities while remaining agile in navigating a dynamic regional operating environment.

Across our markets, we continued to strengthen customer engagement, scale our power brands, drive operational efficiencies, and reinforce our purpose of building communities around the joy of food. Joining me today are Amarpal Sandhu, our Chief Executive Officer, Harsh Bansal, our Chief Operating Officer for KFC and Pizza Hut, and Rahul Mathur, our newly appointed Chief Financial Officer.

Amar will begin with an overview of the group's strategic and operational highlights for the quarter, followed by Harsh, who will walk you through the financial performance and outlook in more detail. We will also introduce Rahul later in the call.

Before we begin, I would like to remind you that today's discussion may include forward-looking statements based on current expectations and assumptions. Please refer to our disclosures for additional details.

The presentation design has been refreshed for improved clarity and identity, while the underlying information remains unchanged. With that, let me hand it over to Amar.

Just a voice check, Michael, am I audible?

I think we had a technical glitch. I will restart.

Once again, thank you, Pujeet, and good day, everyone, and thanks for joining us today. As I was saying earlier, we entered 2026 with strong momentum, and I'm pleased to say that the pace we built in quarter four of 2025 accelerated in quarter one of 2026.

The discipline and execution that defined our finish to 2025 are now translating into tangible results, positioning Americana for a year of meaningful growth. At the core of this performance is a playbook that is both simple and powerful.

First, an unwavering focus on value, ensuring our brands remain relevant, accessible, and compelling for our customers in every market we serve. Second, purposeful innovation, introducing products and experiences that drive traffic and strengthen our brands.

Third, operational excellence, which is about relentlessly improving quality, consistency, and customer experiences across our portfolio. Finally, cost discipline, which is embedding efficiency into every layer of the business to protect margins and fuel reinvestment.

Together, these pillars reinforce each other, and when they are all firing together, the results follow. As we walk you through our quarter one results today, you will see clear evidence that the playbook is working and our ambition for 2026 is very much on track.

Across the quarter, our power brands executed with focus, driving growth through value and locally relevant occasion-led innovation. At KFC, the story this quarter is quite simple.

The brand is firing on all cylinders, setting the pace in innovation, in cultural relevance, and in the kind of consistent execution that keeps customers coming back week after week. A few examples of locally grounded launches like Firecracker Twister in Kuwait, [Thoum Taki?]

in KSA, and Harissa Royal and Maxi Tacos in Morocco reflect a deep understanding of local tastes, which is bold, specific, and culturally resonant. The Big Kentucky momentum from quarter four of last year carried forward with the new Sweet Chili launch, while the KFC and Crusty's partnership added fresh energy in the Saudi market.

Once again, bold flavors, cultural connection, and strong value perception is what keeps KFC getting the formula right. It remains our largest and most powerful brand, and quarter four—quarter one of 2026 reinforces exactly that.

At Hardee's, the focus was on cultural energy and local pride, and it landed once again. The Dirah Burger in Saudi Arabia drew on genuine nostalgia, bringing back an all-time customer favorite.

The One Piece collectible campaign tapped into one of the most passionately followed anime franchises in the world, driving repeat through collectible-led purchasing behavior. The Tornado platform kept the menu fresh and supported transaction growth throughout the quarter.

All these launches helped strengthen brand distinctiveness while staying commercially sharp. Pizza Hut continued to focus on sharing occasions, bringing people together around great food.

The Super Limo with stuffed crust reinforced value and made group dining occasions more compelling. Ramadan and Valentine's activations with the date cake and heart-shaped pizza created culturally and seasonally relevant offerings.

These initiatives reinforce the brand's role in people's lives through family dining and shared food experiences. At Krispy Kreme, the brand continued to expand its relevance through seasonal and gifting moments.

While the Ramadan range drew inspiration from Arabic sweets and regional flavors, creating strong local resonance, the Valentine's campaign drove gifting relevance, and cream cheese snacks built on the Savory Delights platform launched last quarter confirmed that Krispy Kreme can win in everyday moments beyond traditional occasions. Overall, quarter one is a clear proof point.

When value and innovation are grounded in local taste, cultural insight, and occasion relevance, they drive both growth and lasting customer connection. This disciplined approach remains a core driver of sustainable growth across the portfolio.

Coming to our purpose of building communities around the joy of food, which remained central during the quarter, despite uncertain market conditions, we stayed true to that commitment by continuing to support our communities, create opportunities, and deliver meaningful social impact across our markets. During Ramadan, we launched our Close to People in Ramadan and Beyond initiative across all 12 countries, distributing tens of thousands of hot meals, supported more than 1,000 families with essential food boxes.

This initiative created lasting impact beyond one-time relief, reflecting our continued commitment to staying close to people, especially during moments that matter most. In the UAE, we signed an MOU with the Zayed Authority for People of Determination, marking an important step in advancing inclusive employment opportunities.

During the quarter, we also opened the first Pizza Hut restaurant in Abu Dhabi operated by people of determination, reinforcing our long-term commitment to inclusion and equal opportunity across our operations. In Lebanon, we prioritized employee safety during a challenging period by providing secure accommodation, meals, and essential support to those with urgent humanitarian needs.

These initiatives reflect our purpose as a consistent operating principle: creating opportunities, supporting communities, and ensuring growth aligns with meaningful social impact across the regions. Now let's talk about performance in quarter one 2026.

This is the illustration of the playbook in practice, and the numbers reflect it. Our portfolio reached 2,741 stores at end of quarter one, with 173 gross new restaurants and 111 net new restaurants added over the last 12 months, reflecting disciplined expansion anchored in achieving return thresholds and strategic market fit.

Revenues grew by an impressive 13.3% year-on-year to $649.7 million. Performance was driven by strong like-for-like sales growth of 6.7%, once again supported by value, localized innovation, and disciplined operational execution.

EBITDA reached $160.5 million, demonstrating strong operating leverage and cost discipline across the business. Net profit increased by 93.5% year-on-year to $63.2 million, driven by revenue growth and significant margin expansion.

Capital expenditure reached $42.4 million, representing 6.5% of revenues, including the consideration paid for the acquisition of the UAE subsidiary operating Malak Al Tawouk, balancing growth investment with capital efficiency. Finally, during our AGM held on 29th April, shareholders approved cash dividends of $201.6 million, equivalent to circa 92% of full-year 2025 net profit.

These dividends will be distributed to entitled shareholders in line with the announced timelines. In summary, quarter one 2026 reflects strong momentum across revenue, profitability, disciplined expansion, and shareholder returns, once again reinforcing Americana's resilient operating model and sustainable long-term growth trajectory.

Next, allow me to take you through our network expansion during the quarter. As shown on the left-hand chart, we added a gross of 173 stores to our portfolio since quarter one 2025.

This was done primarily across power brands, which contributed 138 gross openings. In parallel, we closed 62 locations as part of our ongoing portfolio optimization, covering underperforming locations, some strategic relocations, and also some landlord-led redevelopment projects.

In addition, seven stores from Malak Al Tawouk in the UAE were added to the portfolio, with their financials consolidated during the quarter, bringing our total restaurant count to 2,741 as of quarter one 2026. The chart on the right highlights the strength of our pipeline for 2026.

During quarter one, we opened 10 gross stores from our core portfolio and added seven stores from Malak Al Tawouk acquisition. Consistent with previous years, the first quarter typically carries the majority of our strategic closures as part of our portfolio optimization approach.

Our development pipeline for the remainder of the year remains strong, providing confidence in delivering our previously guided 120 to 130 net new store additions, including new brands. Expansion remains focused on high-performing markets while maintaining the flexibility to revisit guidance based on evolving market conditions and return thresholds.

With that, I will now hand over to Harsh to walk you through the financial details.

Thank you, Amar, and good day, everyone. I will start by taking you through our Q1 2026 financial performance, and beginning with revenue growth and the key drivers behind the quarter.

As shown in the revenue bridge on the left, revenues increased from $573 million in Q1 2025 to $650 million in Q1 2026, representing a strong 13.3% year-on-year growth. Like-for-like sales remained the largest contributor, adding $41 million, supported by a robust transaction growth, localized menu innovation, and continued momentum across our key markets.

New store openings further contributed $32 million, reflecting disciplined expansion across our power brands and the contribution from the recently opened stores. Like-for-like growth remained resilient even during Ramadan and despite broader regional uncertainty.

Pre-Ramadan, LFL growth stood at 6.4%, improving further to 7.1% during Ramadan till end of March. This reflects strong customer resilience during periods of uncertainty and continued preference and trust across our brands across countries.

Foreign exchange had a limited positive impact of $4 million, largely driven by Egypt and Kazakhstan. Now turning on to the revenue mix on the top right, our portfolio composition remains largely stable and resilient.

Power brands contributed 94% of the total revenue, which is slightly higher than last year, and growth and niche brands contributed the remaining 6%. In addition, 83% of our revenues came from stable pegged-currency markets, providing consistency and low FX volatility across our results.

Looking at channel mix on the bottom right, home delivery increased to 51%, following the increased trend from last year. It is worth noting that given the regional uncertainty, we saw some spike in home delivery sales, this reflecting customers' preferences to stay closer to home.

We expect this level to normalize and home delivery share to stabilize around these levels of 51% to 52%. Kiosks continue to strengthen as a share of revenue, which is at 17%, supporting both improved customer experience, higher check, as well as operating efficiency.

Overall, Q1 revenue performance reflects the strength of our diversified portfolio, strong consumer demand, disciplined expansion, and the resilience of our operating model. This has been supported by our omnichannel platform, which allows us to adapt quickly to shifting consumer needs.

Now let me take you through the performance across brands. Starting with KFC, revenue reached $391 million in Q1 2026, representing a strong 14.2% growth year-on-year.

Like-for-like was 7.5%, which was supported by localized innovation and multiplatform campaigns such as collaboration with Kristal, along with the continued momentum of Big Kentucky Sweet Chili. Hardee's delivered another solid quarter with revenues of $115 million, up 12.9% year-on-year.

Like-for-like stood at 5.9%, and the performance was supported by strong culturally relevant campaigns and collaborations such as One Piece campaign, which clubbed the customer-favorite sandwiches along with their fan-favorite collectibles. Pizza Hut reported $81 million in revenues, a growth of 9.2% year-on-year, and like-for-like growth stood at 4.3%.

The quarter benefited from strong seasonal relevance such as date cake in Ramadan and Valentine's Day heart-shaped campaign, reinforcing family dining as well as occasion-led consumption. Krispy Kreme delivered revenues of $23 million, up 4.4% year-on-year, with a like-for-like growth of 3.6%.

Performance was supported by strong innovation as well as gifting occasions like Ramadan-inspired Arabic sweet flavors and the expansion of savory platform through creamy cheese snacks, extending relevance beyond traditional sweet occasions. On an overall level, the portfolio delivered 13.3% year-on-year growth in Q1 with a strong 6.7% like-for-like growth, reflecting broad-based momentum across power brands as well as across major markets on the back of strong execution, local relevance, and disciplined pricing strategies across markets.

Moving on to profitability, profitability improved materially across all key metrics during the quarter, driven by strong overall sales and the like-for-like growth, delivering better gross margins as well as overall margins. Starting with four-wall EBITDA, we reported an increase from $150 million in Q1 2025 to $204 million in Q1 2026, representing 29.1% growth.

The four-wall margins expanded from 27.5% to 31.4% in Q1 2026. Reported EBITDA grew by strong 31.9% year-on-year, reaching $161 million, and margins expanding from 21.2% to 24.7%.

This reflects strong operating leverage at the restaurant level and conversion of sales into like-for-like profitability. Net profit also increased significantly from $33 million in Q1 2025 to $63 million in Q1 2026, representing a growth of 93.5%.

Net profit margin expanded from 5.7% to 9.7% on account of higher sales as well as cost measures across lines. Overall, this quarter demonstrates the strength of our operating model with strong revenue growth, cost discipline, as well as execution capability, delivering not only top-line growth, but also bottom-line growth along with strong margin expansion.

Now we will go through some of the next slides to give additional color on the gross margin and working capital. As you see, the quarterly trend, inventory cost have been well controlled despite volatility and freight pressures.

In Q1 2026, our cost of inventory improved to 27.3% compared to 29.2% in Q1 2025, representing a 1.9% improvement year-on-year. This was driven by strong procurement discipline as well as supplier negotiations and various other menu and pricing actions, which continue to drive our higher gross margin.

In the time of current volatility, our centralized GCC supply chain has proven to be a true competitive advantage, which has given us better control on sourcing as well as we have been able to move stocks between countries to avoid any stockouts. Our long-term, strong vendor agreements have also given us the flexibility to get the first preference given the size and scale and relationships we have.

It is also important to note that despite recent geopolitical developments and pressure across logistics routes, we have been able to navigate without any material impact on our inventory cost during Q1. However, we do see some impact coming in in Q2, especially on account of freight surcharges as well as commodity volatility given what's going on.

Overall, this quarter demonstrates the strength of our operating discipline and our ability to navigate difficult situations while continuing to perform on top line and on margins. Moving on to working capital and capital deployment, our balance sheet remains strong with disciplined cash management and continued investment in growth.

Starting with net working capital on the left-hand side, NWC remained at negative $230 million as of March 2026, representing minus 8.9% of revenue, which is broadly in line with Q1 2025, showcasing efficient inventory management as well as supplier payment terms. Turning to gross capex on the right-hand side, capex increased to $42.4 million in Q1 2026 compared to $27.7 million in Q1 2025.

$42.4 million also includes USD 16 million for the consideration to acquire the UAE operations of Malak Al Tawouk also. Our approach to capital deployment remains disciplined and return-led to make sure we balance growth as well as shareholder returns.

On that note, I will hand it over to Amar to take through 2026 guidance.

Thank you, Harsh. Before we move to the next section, let me briefly reiterate our 2026 guidance.

Our outlook remains aligned with our strategy of disciplined growth, strong returns, and scalable platforms, while maintaining the flexibility to respond to evolving market conditions. On revenue growth, we continue to guide for mid single-digit like-for-like growth, supported by strong brand relevance, sharper local execution, and culturally resonant campaigns across our markets.

While we are seeing some moderate softness in top-line performance in UAE, this is balanced by momentum across other markets, supporting the resilience of our overall portfolio and the countries of operations. On network expansion, we maintain our guidance of 120 to 130 net new store openings in 2026, including new brands.

Expansion remains focused on high-performing markets, with flexibility to adjust roll-out pace based on market conditions. On profitability, we expect gross margins to remain broadly in line with 2025.

As of the end of quarter one 2026, we have seen no material impact on margins from the current geopolitical situation. However, we remain flexible to revisit margin expectations based on the operating environment and external market dynamics.

We take a similar approach toward EBITDA and net profit, balancing growth with prudent cost discipline. As delivery mix increases during periods of market uncertainty, we remain focused on closing the gap between profitability on digital channels and in-store economics, without compromising on customer experience.

On category expansion, we continue to explore both organic and inorganic opportunities, particularly within Arabic food categories. Malak Al Tawouk was the first step, and we remain open to further opportunities where we see strong, long-term strategic value.

Finally, on efficiencies, we remain focused on menu engineering and supplier negotiations, alongside streamlining G&A to further strengthen our cost base. Overall, our focus remains on disciplined execution, profitable growth, and operational agility to adapt as market conditions evolve.

Before we close, allow me to introduce our newly appointed Chief Financial Officer, Rahul Mathur, who joined Americana Restaurants in April 2026. Rahul brings more than 25 years of international experience, with leadership roles spanning Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, and Africa.

This transition reflects the strength of internal progression within Americana. Harsh Bansal, who has made oversized contributions towards Americana's growth story and provided steadfast leadership as our CFO for the past many years, has now assumed the role of Chief Operating Officer for KFC and Pizza Hut, where he will continue to do what he does best, which is to drive performance across two of our most important brands, which is KFC and Pizza Hut now.

This reflects our belief in developing talent from within, creating positive leadership movement across the organization, and ensuring we continue to strengthen both our operational and financial leadership as we scale for the future. I'm super excited to have Rahul join us, and I will now invite Rahul to introduce himself to all of you.

Thank you, Amar, and good evening, everyone. I'm delighted to join Americana Restaurants.

Over the past few weeks, I've spent time getting to know the business closely: our operations, our markets, and what truly drives our performance. What stands out to me is the strength of this platform, with strong brand partnerships, leading positions across the region, and a very strong track record of consistent execution.

I've also been truly impressed with the quality of our teams and a very strong culture of ownership. My focus will be to build on these strengths, with disciplined capital allocation to support our growth plans, driving operational excellence, and upholding high governance standards.

As I transition into the role working closely with Harsh, I look forward to engaging with you in the coming months. Thank you, and back to Amar for concluding remarks.

Thank you, Rahul. You're getting a free pass for this quarter, but you'll be handling the financial section of the earnings in quarter two.

As we conclude, this quarter gives us confidence in where we are headed. The foundation we built in 2025 is holding, and our playbook of value, purposeful innovation, operational excellence, and cost discipline continues to deliver: stronger profitability, sustained growth, and deeper consumer connection across every market we serve.

In a period of regional uncertainty, including disruption across key logistics routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, we stayed agile and proactive, and yet again, our brands and countries of operations stood the test of resilience. We activated our business continuity frameworks early, strengthened cross-market coordination, secured alternative sourcing routes, and leveraged our centralized GCC supply chain to maintain operational stability.

Our diversified footprint, local sourcing strength, and omnichannel capabilities continue to provide resilience, allowing us to serve customers without any material disruption while protecting margins and supply continuity. As we mentioned during our last call, 2026 is a year of momentum.

We'll keep growing with discipline, innovating with purpose, and staying laser-focused on execution, creating awesome experiences for our customers and amazing value for our shareholders. Thank you all for joining us today, and we will now welcome your questions.

Yes, hi. Good afternoon, gents.

It's Taher from JPMorgan. Again, congrats on a very strong set of numbers.

I have two questions, Amar, if I may. The first one is just really on the regional conflict which started in early March.

Looking just at your performance and the like-for-like you've shared, the business was quite resilient, fair to say, in March. Maybe just a bit of color on trends going into April, and the point here is UAE is the biggest market within your portfolio, it makes up around 33% of your sales.

I just want to understand what kind of trends are you seeing in April versus March, and particularly maybe I'm interested to see how much are you impacted by tourism? I know there's the argument that fine dining is maybe taking the biggest hit and QSR seems to be in a sweet spot.

Maybe just your thoughts on how trends are working through in April, that would be helpful, specifically for the UAE. Then maybe I can follow up with the second question if I may.

Taher, we were taking bets that who would be the first one to ask a question, and I think I won.

Always,

always good to hear from you. I think you've also kind of provided some color on the UAE situation because you're familiar with the market.

Definitely the QSR brands remain strong. There's some moderate softness, and it's more in the touristy areas, and obviously brands that are heavy on dine-in, like casual dining, we are seeing a bigger impact.

Of course, that is a very small portion of the overall portfolio in UAE. I would say performance remains relatively strong.

Is there some softness compared to pre conflict, which started on February 28th? Yes, some moderate softness, but we're also seeing week-over-week growth.

Even across, for example, the brands that are heavily dependent on mall traffic, whether it's Peet's or the TGI Fridays, we see continued improvement week-over-week. On the QSR side, yes, we are seeing some impact in the tourist areas around Sheikh Zayed and, for example, JBR, Marina, etc.

We're also seeing very strong performance, for example, in Northern Emirates, in Al Ain, in Sharjah, in Abu Dhabi. Once in a while, we get pleasantly surprised, let's keep it that way.

Perfect. Maybe just the second question is on just the guidance.

I remember in the Q4 call, you said 50 to 100 basis points EBITDA net profit margin expansion year-over-year. Just on that side, I think there are maybe two concerns.

Number one is the pickup in home delivery, which we understand is a lower-margin sales channel compared to others. Maybe some color there.

The second point is just on the supply chain. I remember you said in other calls that you maybe using land routes through Saudi to get some product availability into Kuwait and UAE.

Can you just maybe share some color in terms of how should we think about the margin profile given the increase in home delivery and also maybe higher sea freight costs and so on?

Sure. Sure, Taher.

First on home delivery, while yes, home delivery is a lower-margin channel, but we have also been taking pricing on home delivery as a channel, which net-net I won't say nullify, but significantly reduce the margin impact given the higher pricing. While there will be some impact on margin, but large part of it would be covered through higher pricing on home delivery channels, which we have been doing it from last year and we'll continue to do it.

On supply chain, we are seeing some, as I said, yes, we are using land routes as well as tapping into various other ports to get our products in. We have been able to navigate through it.

There has been some impact, especially on the logistics, given the freight cost as well as the war surcharges. We do not expect that to materially change our gross margin.

While for sure if you compare to Q1, there will be some impact in Q2 in terms of gross margin. Having said that, we still believe we are on track for our guidance, which is better gross margin as well as 50 to 100 basis points better EBITDA margins compared to last year.

Perfect, very clear. Thank you very much.

I'll come back in the queue later. Thanks.

Yes, hi. Thank you for the presentation and congratulations on the great results.

Two questions from my end. The first would be if we look at Saudi, Saudi in the first quarter did not grow as much as the other main markets, but sequentially it wasn't impacted as much.

I'm just wondering what did you see in Saudi and how do you see the Saudi market performing going forward? Maybe on the like-for-like, how much of the like-for-like growth is driven from pricing versus traffic or transactions?

Sultan, on your observation on Saudi, you're spot on that the growth in Saudi has been lower than other markets. Having said that, other markets had a big carryover given quarter-on-quarter last year, we saw a good momentum.

In Saudi, we are actually seeing positive like-for-like sales, and it is a difficult market, as very price-sensitive and highly competitive, but we have been able to gain share in Saudi and we are positive like-for-like. Even in April, we have had a strong month in April in Saudi, which is again backed by strong like-for-like performance.

On your second question, which is the split between transactions and check, see, given the higher share of home delivery, the check has contributed to the most of the growth because check on HD is higher compared to other channels, and transactions have been kind of flattish, slightly positive, but most of the growth actually has come in from check.

Clear. Just one last question if you don't mind.

On the closures, it seems over the last 12 months, you closed around 60 stores, and out of that, 50 was of your power brands. It seems like a big number.

I'm just wondering where are these closures happening and what are the reasons for them? I think you're anticipating another 40 closures during 2026.

Sultan, the closures are very much in line with what we've been closing each year, right? There are three primary reasons for closures.

One is some underperforming stores where we believe that the location is the main reason for the underperformance and it cannot change. The second is we do some strategic relocations where trade areas have shifted, restaurants have been there for a number of years, and rather than reinvesting in remodeling those restaurants, we are better off building a new one, maybe perhaps in a adjacent facility or somewhere in a new trade area.

The third is force majeures where of course a lot of that happened recently in primarily in UAE and Saudi, and to some degree some occasional situation in Kuwait, where landlords, we've been there a long time and real estate moves on, and the landlords want to repurpose that area, where they don't want to extend the lease or renew the lease because they want to repurpose or redevelop those areas. Those are the main reasons, but our closures are very much in line with what we do every year.

It's no one particular country. See, 50 to 60 closures on a portfolio of 2,700, 2,800 restaurants every year is pretty much in line.

It's actually pretty good.

Great. Thank you so much.

Hi, this is Mohammad Adnan from Al Rayan Investment. I have a question related to the like-for-like sales.

What I remember, the like-for-like sales are soft, usually soft in Ramadan, how it's greater than the other two periods? It's because of the pricing?

My second question is regarding to the inventory cost as a percentage of sales. It's well controlled this quarter, but what about this quarter?

Will it increase because all over the commodity prices has been increased? We will see the impact in this quarter?

Mohammad, first is on inventory, as I mentioned earlier, in Q2, we do expect a slight increase or some increase compared to Q1, but we remain on track to our guidance of our better gross margin compared to last year. Now, on your first question on Ramadan, we have adjusted for seasonality, if you look at 7.1% on Ramadan is Ramadan to Ramadan, and so it's apple-to-apple comparison.

Anyway, by end of Q1, we were largely even because Ramadan was Ramadan, while it moved 10 days, but during Q1 to Q1, it was fairly even.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Hello, am I audible, sir?

This is Abdullah Buraidi from Emirates NBD Asset Management. I have four questions.

The first one is regarding the margins. When we notice the guidance at the beginning of the year, you were mentioning 50 to 100 basis points increase in margin, but the increase in margin in the first quarter is 3%.

Keeping the guidance intact, does that mean you are expecting the margin to not only to decline from the current level, but from year-over-year, because as you're having a very strong first quarter, to even out to the guidance, you're expecting some quarters to be weaker? Or you're just not changing the guidance out of conservatism?

That's the first question. The second regarding the margin again.

The raw material savings is around 1.9% from that 3.1% margin enhancement. What are the other component of this?

The other thing is that the home delivery breakdown, could you break down the home delivery between third party and your channel?

Thank you, Abdullah, for your three questions. On the first one, we say our margins are 50 to 100 basis points, that's because if you look at this slide on cost of inventory, as you see, even during last year, our quarter-on-quarter cost of goods sold reduced.

We will be comping on a higher base in terms of gross margin. While we expect to do better on an full-year basis, the base will vary given the improvement last year.

We, as I said earlier, we believe we will be in line to our guidance earlier, which is 50 to 100 basis points. The second is on cost of inventory.

See, there are multiple initiatives. One is we continue to diversify our supply base.

The second is there are menu and pricing initiatives. The third is we have also taken higher pricing on home delivery channels.

The fourth is also some of the menu rationalization exercise. There are multitude of factors which contribute to even waist pricing during Eid we take, so that also impacts it positively.

That is on cost of inventory improvement in Q1. The third is home delivery.

In terms of share, it is 2/3 or probably 3/4, 1/4. 3/4 is third-party aggregators and 1/4 is our channels, but that is just for the customer acquisition.

We still use our own riders for delivery, which gives us the leverage to stay connected to the customers outside of Saudi. Saudi is the only market where we don't deliver and it is with aggregators due to regulatory constraints, but across all major markets, we do our own delivery, for example UAE, Kuwait, and some of the other markets, but from a revenue or from an acquisition standpoint, it is 3/4,

1/4. On the margin, going back to margin, yeah, it's true you will be growing from a high base, but that's mainly in the fourth quarter.

Speaking on the second quarter, last year it was similar to inventory costs of the first quarter, do you expect similar or at least close improvement in the second quarter year-over-year similar to the first quarter or you expect completely different picture? No,

we do expect Q2 2026 to be better than Q2 2025, but when you compare Q2 2026 to Q1 2026, we may see some dilution, especially given the war surcharges and some of the emergency purchases we had to do given the overall situation. From a full-year perspective, we expect to be better, but it may not be same as Q1 2026 given the headwinds we had on logistics as well as on the sourcing side.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Wishing you all the best.

Hi, it's Avishay Mehra here from Jefferies. Thank you for the presentation.

I have a couple of questions. How do you see competition versus fine or casual dining evolving?

Apparently there has been some near-term share gains as fine and casual was not exactly geared to the shift to online, but how is it changing now as fine and casual are also launching home delivery channels, and we're also seeing more advertisements from aggregators? Secondly, how do you manage fuel cost pressures for your 1P home delivery channel?

Are you planning on raising delivery fees for any customers to compensate?

Hi, Avishay. Your first question on fine and casual dining, I think fine and casual dining is what is impacted the most during this recent geopolitical situation, especially in UAE.

That allows QSR to gain share because we are mass brands and frequency is higher. Again, fine and casual dining launching delivery is not new.

They launched delivery during COVID, it's been six years. That is not what their forte is.

People go to fine or casual dining for an experience, not to get food delivered at home. We don't really see that as a threat.

I think as Harsh had mentioned earlier in his financial overview, home delivery costs, fuel surcharges, or the cost of home delivery, we've taken pricing, and that is how we mitigate the cost side of the business.

Very clear. Thank you for that.

Hi. Thank you, gentlemen, for the call.

My question is on your Pizza Hut operations. We see that the pickup in the Pizza Hut operations have been quite slow given the ramp-up in the number of stores.

If you can throw some light, how do you see the traction on the ground? Is it the other brands like Domino's or Papa Johns or some other local brands are more favored than Pizza Hut?

Bijoy, on Pizza Hut, we have two big markets apart from small markets, which is UAE and KSA, and so it's a very different mix in terms of country mix compared to KFC and Hardee's. Now within UAE and KSA, Pizza Hut continues to be a strong brand, especially in UAE, where we are by far the market leader and we are outpacing the competition in terms of share gain as well as in terms of our like-for-like performance.

Having said that, Pizza Hut as a brand has been a bit more impacted given the situation in UAE because the customer of Pizza Hut is a slightly different customer, and it is more families compared to KFC and Hardee's. There has been a bit more impact on Pizza Hut compared to other brands.

In Saudi, while Q1 has been a strong quarter for Pizza Hut, in general as a category is very competitive, as we all know, and we are continuing to build our presence and gain share. We have slowed down the openings compared to what we have done in the last few years, a lot of focus on getting the unit economics right, but we are selectively still growing and still gaining share in Saudi as well.

Overall, brand stays strong. We are by far the market leader in UAE as well as in some of the other markets which include Jordan and Bahrain, and in Saudi, we continue to build that share.

Thank you. That's it from my side.

Hey guys, yeah, this is Rashad from Morgan Stanley. Thank you and congrats on the results.

Another on margins, please. If I look at your gross margins this quarter and last, I think it's the highest two quarters of gross margin delivery since listing.

I think Q4, you talked about dynamic pricing, particularly in December being leveraged, which probably helped. I think Q1, the delivery here really comes as a surprise, particularly in the context of what you guys were talking about around the higher share of home delivery, etc., that we've seen.

I guess a two-part question. I think one, how should we think about the long-term gross margin of this business?

Then two, in terms of the evolution of the cost base over the next couple of quarters given the supply chain disruption we're seeing, you mentioned you haven't really seen a material impact to margins from the situation. Can you just talk us through what's embedded in the guide at this point, right?

Are you making any assumptions around status quo between now and the end of the year, or things easing, just anything you can kind of share around that would be helpful. Thank you.

Rashad, on gross margin, as I said, we expect on a full-year basis to do better than 2025. In terms of on your question on what are the assumptions, we don't have a crystal ball, but if the situation continues for another quarter or so, that may have an impact on the gross margin.

For now, we have visibility on our stock situation still end of June, and we know the cost base for that. After that, depending on how the situation evolves, it will have either positive or negative impact on the gross margin.

In terms of home delivery, home delivery at a gross margin level actually has no material impact, if any is positive, because the cost of home delivery sits below gross margin, but that has not been the key driver of improved margins. It has been largely driven by the lower food and packaging cost as a percent of sales.

Thanks, Harsh. Then just if you think about kind of the longer term, taking this kind of conflict to the side, if you think about kind of the longer-term gross margin of this business, is kind of the Q4, Q1, is this kind of the right way to think about where this business could land longer term?

I would say plus minus 50 basis points, that would be the kind of range which at least we look at in the longer term or the medium term.

Got it. Thank you very much.

Yes, hi. It's Taher again.

Maybe a question on just the recent acquisition of Malak Al Tawouk and you guys reiterating that you want to create something around it in terms of the Arabic QSR category. I just want to maybe hear your thoughts on two things.

How big can Malak Al Tawouk grow for you? You have long-term agreement on the franchises, you've managed to get the franchisee rights across multiple markets including the existing 10 branch network in UAE and Saudi.

Maybe just help us understand where could Malak Al Tawouk be 2, 3 years from now? Is there any sort of guidance that you can maybe share with us on that front?

The second question is just on the category expansion. The balance sheet is very strong, there's no leverage.

Does this conflict maybe create some further opportunities, I want to say maybe distressed sales, or you guys becoming maybe even more aggressive to take on some new brands? If you can just maybe walk us through the M&A on the Arabic QSR, if there's anything that we should think about on that front.

Taher, you are extremely perceptive. I think I'll answer your second question first.

Yes, we are constantly evaluating opportunities for M&A, especially on the Arabic front. Nothing to disclose at this point.

As and when that happens, we'll keep everybody informed. Regarding the expansion of Malak Al Tawouk, without getting into specific numbers, we are very optimistic about the brand, especially given that the brand has been in UAE and KSA, and we have visibility to the performance of the existing restaurants.

Yes, only a handful, seven in UAE, three in KSA. However, the performance is very impressive, and we are building a strong pipeline for expansion.

Hopefully there'll be more to talk about by the end of the year on Malak Al Tawouk in these countries, and also we would be launching in a new country as well this year. We're excited about this acquisition, and beyond that, as we have stated before, we look at Arabic in four categories.

One is Tawouk, the other one is chicken rice, the third is Shawarma, and the fourth is Levantine cuisine. We continue to explore that, and we want to continue to build the Arabic platform.

Two primary drivers of growth: of course, the enterprise brands, and yet again, right, through every crisis, our enterprise brands have proven their staying power, and KFC, Hardee's, Pizza Hut, KFC has been around more than 50 years, right? It has gone through many crises and, I would say, headwinds, and yet it is one of the strongest brands globally.

We will continue to drive that brand along with Hardee's now is a clear number two in the burger segment in the major GCC countries, and we are quite pleased with the turnaround from five years ago of the Hardee's brand. Of course, Pizza Hut is something we entered Saudi about 3 and 1/2, 4 years ago, we're up to 110 restaurants, and we will continue to grow that brand and gain share in the pizza category as well.

Thank you. Very clear.

Hello, am I audible?

When we dissect the like-for-like growth for the first quarter, we notice that most of the improvement is coming from Kuwait mainly, as we look at the revenue per store, mainly it's coming from there. Do you see this continuing for the rest of the year, or you are witnessing other areas or other regions' growth to achieve the mid single-digit like-for-like growth?

Hi Abdullah, can you hear me?

I can hear you.

Abdullah, Kuwait for sure has outpaced in terms of like-for-like, and as Amar mentioned earlier, UAE was also doing very strong in Jan and Feb. We had some impact in UAE, especially in March, in the tourist locations as well as malls, for example Dubai Mall and some of the other malls.

That's why there has been some slowness in UAE, but overall, across the board, be it Qatar, be it Oman, be it Bahrain, be it Jordan, we are seeing strong like-for-like, and also Saudi. The whole portfolio has delivered strong like-for-like.

For sure, Kuwait has been stronger than others, but even Qatar, for example, we are at very strong like-for-like. Oman, we are comping about 20% like-for-like, it has been very strong across the board.

Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you all for joining today's earnings call, and for continued interest in Americana Restaurants. We appreciate your time, your engagement, and the continued trust you place in our business and long-term strategy.

I would also encourage you to download Americana Restaurants IR app, where you can access all our disclosures, financial results, presentations, and stay up to date with all our investor communications in one place. We look forward to continuing the dialogue with you in months ahead.

Thank you, everyone.