Herfy Food Services Company, Saudi Arabia’s largest fast-food chain, has signed an agreement with EatRite Food Services, granting it franchise rights to open up to 50 outlets in Nigeria.
“This agreement comes as a continuation to Herfy’s approach to becoming international, which is one of the pillars of the 2030 Vision announced by HRH The Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as the company is looking forward and working on being present in the Far East, GCC countries, and Africa,” the company said in a bourse statement on Sunday.
The two companies first began talks in February this year and according to the Tadawul announcement the franchise agreement will last for 10 ten years, with an average of five branches opening a year, starting from 2021.
Herfy Food Services Company was established in 1981, and the first Herfy restaurant opened in Riyadh that same year. As of September 2020, the company owns a total of 40 restaurants and leases 345.
It is aiming to increase the number of outlets it owns and leases in the Kingdom to 400 by the end of this year.
Also read: Nigeria economic growth picks up as oil and factory output rise
In December 2017, Herfy opened its first franchised branch outside of the Middle East in Bangladesh, and according to an agreement signed with Bangladeshi private-sector company Greenland Services Ltd. in 2016, Herfy aims to open 30 outlets within “a few years.”
Herfy reported net profit after Zakat and tax of SR25.5 million (US$6.8M) for the first quarter of 2021, an increase of 2 percent year-on-year, according to the Argaam website.
Its restaurant segment made a profit of SR500,000 in the first three months of this year, compared to losses in Q1 2020 and Q4 2020. The rebound was attributed to an 8 percent year-on-year increase in sales to SR252 million.
