When The Doughing Gets Tough

Fin24:

Cape Town - The market has not exactly been salivating over food franchisor Taste Holdings, which listed on the AltX recently.

With most market attention reserved for well established players like Spur Corporation and Famous Brands it seems Taste, which owns the Maxis and Scooters brands, has at best been relegated to a side order.

Observers also felt the fast food sector in SA was looking over-traded, making if difficult for niche brands to spin meaningful profits. Hence Taste’s shares drifted well below the 90c/share offer price in the pre-listing share placement in June this year.

But interim numbers to end August 2006 - released on Thursday - suggest Taste may warrant a closer look.

The top line showed encouraging growth with revenue up 40% to R15m and pre-tax profits coming in at R5.6m - a fat trading margin of over 37%.