Franchise Brands PLC on Thursday said it will appoint Mark Fryer to the board as chief financial officer, effective from Wednesday next week, after it reported rising revenue in the first half of 2023.
The Manchester-based owner of ChipsAway, Willow Pumps and Metro Rod brands said he would replace Interim CFO Andrew Mallows, who will return to his former non-board role of group commercial director.
The company noted Fryer’s recent roles as CFO of Augean PLC, Dialight PLC and Manganese Bronze Holdings PLC.
Franchise Brands also described him as an ‘experienced’ CFO with 25 years of public company and private equity experience as CFO in global manufacturing and business service companies, including at FTSE Small Cap, FTSE 250 and AIM-quoted companies.
‘His extensive experience in senior finance positions within listed, international and business services companies will be invaluable as we continue to drive the group’s growth across ten countries following the acquisitions of Pirtek and Filta,’ said Executive Chair Stephen Hemsley.
Fryer added: ‘’ am delighted to be joining such an ambitious business at an exciting time in its development, following the recent acquisitions. I look forward to working with Stephen and the team to build on the group’s expanded platform of market-leading franchise businesses and driving shareholder value over the coming years.
Shares in Franchise Brands closed down 2.5% to 136.53 pence each in London on Friday.
Earlier Thursday, Franchise Brands said revenue in its first half of 2023 rose 57% to £69.8 million, from £44.5 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation rises 67% to £12.1 million, up from £7.3 million the year before. It also declared interim dividend of 1.0p per share, up 11% on 0.9p per share the year before.
The company said it has a positive outlook for the rest of the year, anticipating a full year performance at least in line with expectations.
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