Boston Pizza Royalties Income Fund

Hello, this is the Chorus Call conference operator. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Boston Pizza's first quarter conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in listen only mode and the conference is being recorded on May 10th, 2023. 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 InvestorRelations at BostonPizza.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.

Very good. Thank you, and welcome to the call. Today we'll be discussing the 2023 first quarter results for both 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 first 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 is 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 in 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 8, 2023, 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 first quarter investor conference call. Today I'll be discussing our first quarter 2023 results, and later we'll share a brief outlook. Michael will summarize our key financial highlights, and as usual, we'll leave time for your questions at the end of today's call. COVID-19 impacted the business of Boston Pizza during 2020, 2021, and the first half of 2022. Since then, COVID-19 case counts have improved, government restrictions related to COVID-19 were largely eliminated, and sales levels of Boston Pizza restaurants have returned to more normal levels when compared to times prior to COVID-19. Turning to our financial results, the fund posted franchise sales from restaurants in the royalty pool of $224.2 million for the quarter, representing an increase of 25.5% versus the same period one year ago. same restaurant sales was 25.7% for the quarter. SRS for the period was principally due to increases in restaurant guest traffic compared to the first quarter of 2022 during which pandemic related restrictions still existed and increased average guest check due to a combination of increased menu pricing and larger per guest ordering levels. We are pleased that our sales results have supported another monthly increase to the fund's distribution rate which Michael will elaborate on later. From a marketing standpoint, we began the first quarter of 2023 with our pasta Tuesday all month long promotion, which featured our well-known weekly pasta Tuesday promotional pricing throughout the entire month of January for guests dining at Boston pizza. This promotion resulted in an increase in guest traffic and an increase in overall sales. The promotion was supported by significant TV, digital, and social media channels, along with in-restaurant promotions at participating Boston Pizza restaurants across the country. In addition to this, Boston Pizza introduced a pasta-focused feature menu in February, which included a new appetizer, three new pastas, and was supported by TV and digital advertising to invite Canadians to enjoy these menu items. Sales and guest traffic remained strong through this promotional period. Boston Pizza also celebrated the 30th anniversary of our Paper Hearts fundraising program. To mark the 30th anniversary of this charitable initiative, all program materials were refreshed and the fundraising record for Paper Hearts was broken with over $400,000 raised through the sale of these hearts and an additional $100,000 raised through the sale of Boston Pizza's heart-shaped pizzas on Valentine's Day. Turning to restaurant development, No restaurants were open, one restaurant was closed, and no restaurants were renovated during the first quarter of 2023. We have some exciting initiatives planned to drive sales through the remainder of the year, which I'll speak about in a moment. First, however, I'll turn the call back to Michael for a review of the fund's financial performance. Michael?