Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund

Hello, this is the chorus call conference operator. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Boston Pizza's second quarter conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen only mode and the conference is being recorded today, August 5th, 2022. After the presentation, there will be a question and answer session. Participants on the call may also pose their questions via email to Boston Pizza's Investor Relations Department at investorrelationsatbostonpizza.com. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Michael Harbinson, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Thank you, and welcome to the call. Today we'll be discussing the 2022 second quarter results for Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund, or the fund, and for Boston Pizza International, or BPI. For complete details on our financial results, please see our second quarter materials filed earlier today on CDAR or visit the fund's website at bpincomefund.com. Should you require additional information after the call, you can reach us via the investor relations phone number that's listed in our press release. The fund is a limited-purpose, open-ended trust established under the laws of British Columbia to acquire, indirectly, certain trademarks and trade names used by BPI and its Boston Pizza restaurants in Canada. BPI pays royalty and distribution income to the fund based on franchise revenues of royalty pool restaurants. For a complete description of the fund and its business, please see the annual information form dated February 9, 2022, which was filed on CDAR.com. Before I turn the call over to Jordan Holm, President of BPI, I would like to note that certain information in the following discussion may constitute forward-looking information. For a more complete definition of forward-looking information and the associated risks, please refer to the Fund's management discussion and analysis issued earlier today. Forward-looking information is provided as of the date of this call and, except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update or revise forward-looking information to reflect new events or circumstances. And with that, I will now turn the call over to Jordan.

Jordan? Thank you, Michael, and welcome everyone to Boston Pizza's second quarter investor conference call. Today, I'll be discussing our second quarter results and also share a brief outlook. Michael will summarize our key financial highlights, and as usual, we will leave time for your questions at the end of today's call. We were pleased to see our sales performance improve during the second quarter compared to the same period one year ago. In fact, the second quarter generated our strongest sales results since the start of the pandemic. We were pleased to see our guests excited to come back to our restaurants and our sales performance exceeded three pandemic levels in the quarter. We also continued to safely operate the dining rooms, sports bars and patios of Boston Pizza restaurants across Canada during this phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Turning to our financial results, the fund posted franchise sales from both restaurants in the royalty pool of $219.4 million for the quarter and $398.0 million year to date, representing an increase of 62.7% and 50.8% respectively versus the same periods one year ago. Same restaurant sales was positive 64.9% for the quarter and positive 52.3% year to date. Positive results for the quarter and year to date were principally due to increases in restaurant guest traffic, mainly due to the easing and elimination of pandemic-related dining restrictions. We are pleased that our sales results have supported an increase to the funds distribution rate, which Michael will elaborate on further later in the call. COVID-19 first began to adversely affect Boston Pizza restaurants in March of 2020. As a result, the fund believes it's useful to report additional sales metrics that compare sales in 2022 to sales in 2019. Comparing to 2019 allows investors to gauge Boston Pizza's current sales levels against sales levels on a pre-pandemic basis. If SRS on a franchise sales basis were calculated by comparing to the same period in 2019, SRS would be positive 4.6% for the quarter and and negative 2.8% year-to-date. SRS for July 2022 was approximately 6.5% when compared to the same period in 2021 and approximately 8.3% when compared to the same period in 2019. Total franchise sales and the resulting royalty and distribution income for July 2020 increased by approximately 6.1% compared to July 2021. and approximately 4.6% compared to July 2019. From a marketing standpoint, we began the second quarter of 2022 with a specially priced burger and beer promotion featuring a pint and a burger for $17.99. Also in the second quarter, we launched our summer patio campaign, then introduced new food and drink menu innovations, and both promotions have been exceptionally well received by our guests. Turning to restaurant development, Boston Pizza opened no new restaurants in the quarter and did not close permanently any Boston Pizza restaurants in the second quarter. BPI continues to focus on the safety of our guests and restaurant staff, serving our communities with takeout delivery and on-premise dining as permitted, and helping our franchisees to effectively manage through the ensuing phase of the pandemic. I'll now pass it over to Michael for a review of the fund's financial performance.