Metropolitan Life pension fund exceeds 5% ownership threshold in Sphera

The mandatory private pension fund Metropolitan Life exceeded the 5% ownership threshold in Sphera Franchise Group, in the second half of last month, according to a report by the operator of public food chains that manages the KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut brands, published yesterday on the website of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB).

Metropolitan Life, managed by the Americans from MetLife, had on April 24 just over two million Sphera shares, equivalent to almost 5.2% of the issuer's capital. The company is on the radar of pension funds, at the end of last year five of the seven Pilon II funds had shares of the operator of public food chains. In January, the largest holding was the mandatory pension fund managed by NN, which controlled an 8.2% stake in Sphera.

The issuer will distribute dividends to shareholders in the amount of 42.3 million lei from the net profit carried forward for the 2023-2024 financial years, respectively a unit allocation of 1.09 lei, equivalent to a net yield of 2.4% compared to yesterday's share price, as of the middle of the trading session.

In two of the last three years, Sphera Franchise Group has granted dividends twice a year.

Last year, the company recorded sales of 1.5 billion lei, up 5.4%, while net profit reached 97.2 million lei, 22% higher compared to 2023. For this year, Sphera estimates that it will obtain total revenues of 1.74 billion lei, up 12% and a net profit of 105.2 million lei, 8% higher than the previous year.

As of June 30 last year, the SFG shareholder structure was as follows: Tatika Investments (Cyprus) held 28.6% of the shares, Computerland Romania - 20.5%, and Wellkept Group (Romania) - 17.1%. Tatika Investments and Wellkept Group are controlled by Radu Dimofte, while Computerland belongs to Nicolae Badea.