Cooks Coffee Company Limited Analysis

Overview

Cooks Coffee is building an ethical café group with great cafes owned and run by local people.

Cooks is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX: CCC) and joined the Aquis Exchange in London in November 2022 under the ticker “Cook”.

The Cooks franchise model promotes individual entrepreneurship and local community engagement.

Esquires Coffee was founded in 1993 in Vancouver and Cooks Coffee acquired the global rights (excluding Australia and New Zealand), focusing on operations in the UK and Ireland in 2013.

Cooks Coffee Company is committed to the highest standards of sustainability in all areas of the business with all coffee being derived from certified sources.

As of the end of Sep 2024, Cooks Coffee has 104 outlets spread across its 9 international markets.

Performance

The following information was extracted from Cooks Coffee Company Limited's Full year results, released 29 May 2025

Highlights

• Total franchisee store sales in UK & Ireland up 33% at NZ$79.6m (FY24: NZ$58.2m).
• Group revenue, which is highly correlated to store sales, up 49% at NZ$7.0m (FY24: NZ$4.7m). This includes NZ$1.0m of sales through the Dairygold stores for the 3.5 months from mid-December 2024. Net Revenue excluding Dairygold store sales were NZ$6.0m which was 28% up on FY24.
• EBITDA of NZ$1.4m v NZ$336k for FY24.
• UK store sales were up 38% at NZ$55.6m (FY24: NZ$38.3m), compared to the industry average of 9%.
• Ireland store sales up 22% at NZ$24.1m (FY24: NZ$19.9m), compared to the industry growth of 1% in Ireland.

Aiden Keegan, CEO of Cooks Coffee Company, said: “FY25 has marked a pivotal step forward for our business, we have not only delivered strong financial results but also outperformed the broader industry by a significant margin. These results reflect the strength of our franchise model, our focus on community-driven locations like market towns and suburban hubs, and our commitment to quality. The focus on market towns, housing developments and suburban locations has been an important contributor along with the focus on organic coffee products and an enhanced food offering with local sourcing where possible, delivered by local owners of the franchised stores. In addition, the award of the Dairygold café contract and our recognition as Ireland’s ‘Best Modern Organic Coffee Shop Enterprise’ are milestones that reinforce our strategic direction.

“With 93 stores open as at late May, we are well on track toward our goal of 300 stores by 2034. Coupled with our new banking arrangement with BNZ, which has reduced interest costs and strengthened our capital structure, we are entering the new financial year with strong momentum and confidence in our long-term growth strategy.”