American Marconi Wireless News - Noble Roman's Announces 2024 Financial Data and Other Highlights; to Host Conference Call on June 10th at 4:00 PM ET.

The company recorded a loss for 2024 of $3,174 compared to a net profit of $1,460,284 in 2023. The 2023 net income of $1.46 million included an Employee Retention Tax Credit ("ERTC") refund recorded in February 2023. Without that ERTC the 2023 results would have been approximately break-even. The 2024 results were reduced by some significant one-time adjustments, as explained below.

The company opened 68 new non-traditional franchise locations in 2024. It plans to continue the focus on expanding its non-traditional franchising and anticipates opening an additional 60 to 70 new franchised locations in 2025. Extending very positive trends, in 2024 franchising revenue continued its rapid growth, increasing by $876,000 or 18.8%.

Upon considering two one-time downward adjustments, actual franchising revenue results were even greater. First, a $77,000 adjustment decreasing ongoing fees from franchising was incurred by changing the method of recording the income from that based on product usage as reported by the company's distributors (as had been done for all prior years) to reporting that income as the manufacturers acknowledged the liability. Second, revenue was also adjusted down by removing $75,000 from manufacturing allowances associated with incentive funds PepsiCo Beverage Sales, LLC ("Pepsi") contracted to pay the company when the company agreed to utilize their products. In total, Pepsi contracted to pay the company $125,000 as part of the manufacturing agreement. The payments on this contract were agreed to be made through annual installments of $25,000 each year for 2023 through 2027. The installments paid in 2025 and required to be paid in 2026 and 2027 totaling $75,000 were removed from revenue in 2024 to be recorded as future installment payments are received. Without these above-referenced changes, revenue from franchising would have increased by $1.03 million, or by 22%. The one-time reductions of income in 2024 will add to the income recognized over the next few years.

Another one-time expense recorded in 2024 was additional depreciation expense of $113,000 above the normal amount. This charge was from used equipment, primarily consisting of stainless steel worktables and shelving units, that was properly transferred from inventory to new Craft Pizza & Pub ("CPP") locations between 2017 and 2020, but which was not transferred to depreciation schedules for depreciation purposes. Depreciation expense recorded in 2023 was approximately $380,000 compared to approximately $500,000 in 2024. Since the company does not anticipate increasing the number of company-owned locations in 2025, depreciation expense is expected to return to approximately 2023 levels in 2025.

The company also recorded an additional $258,000 in operating expenses in 2024 for certain operating expenses that were reported in the 2022 restated 10-K. These were not added to the company's general ledger until 2024 since that is when the 2022 10-K was restated.

As previously reported, the maturity of the Corbel Capital Partners SBIC, L.P. ("Corbel") loan was extended by agreement between the parties from February 7, 2025 until June 30, 2026. This necessary action was taken in order to give the company the time necessary to properly execute on additional financing advantageous to stakeholders, and to accommodate necessary administrative aspects of the company's non-traditional franchising efforts.

The company's CPP locations continue to be a major financial contributor, providing approximately $800,000 to the profit of Noble Roman's, Inc. in 2024. Despite an extremely challenging consumer spending climate in 2024, same store sales declined only 1.9% compared to 2023. However, same store sales actually increased in the fourth quarter of 2024 by 2.9% over the same period in 2023. Despite the overall industry and segment trends, the company will report slightly positive same store sales comparisons for the first quarter of 2025, with the sales growth further accelerating during the first two months of the second quarter of 2025.

General and administrative expenses continue to be tightly controlled. Interest expense remained very high but will be lowered by the new interest rate in the extension negotiated with Corbel, which is SOFR plus 9% and no PIK interest. Principal is currently being reduced by $91,667 per month. Upon completion of new financing, the company believes (based on Corbel's stated willingness to do so) it can purchase the outstanding warrants owned by Corbel with the repayment of the Corbel debt.

Noble Roman's will host a conference call on Tuesday, June 10th from 4:00 to 4:45 PM ET. Those interested in participating in the conference call should dial in at 317-300-7896 and use the participation code 499795 (no pin number required - callers will press 5* to ask questions when Q&A time is announced).

The statements contained in this press release concerning the company's future revenues, profitability, financial resources, market demand and product development are forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) relating to the company that are based on the beliefs of the management of the company, as well as assumptions and estimates made by and information currently available to the company's management. The company's actual results in the future may differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements due to risks and uncertainties that exist in the company's operations and business environment, including, but not limited to the ability of franchisees to timely prepare their units for scheduled openings, the company's ability to maintain adequate staff for new openings, competitive factors and pricing and cost pressures, non-renewal of franchise agreements or the openings contemplated by the development agreement not occurring, shifts in market demand, the success of franchise programs, including the Noble Roman's Craft Pizza & Pub format, general economic conditions, changes in demand for the company's products or franchises, the company's ability to service and refinance its loans, the impact of franchise regulation, the success or failure of individual franchisees and inflation, other changes in prices or supplies of food ingredients and labor and, as well as the factors discussed under "Risk Factors" contained in this company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions or estimates prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected or intended. If activist stockholder activities ensue, the company's business could be adversely impacted.

Consolidated Balance Sheets
Noble Roman's, Inc. and Subsidiaries

Consolidated Statements of Operations
Noble Roman's, Inc. and Subsidiaries

(1) The net income from 2023 includes a refund of certain expenses under the ERC program in the amount of $1.460 million. See further explanation in Note 1 to the consolidated financial statements.

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT:

For Media Information: Scott Mobley, President & CEO ([email protected])
For Investor Relations: Paul Mobley, Executive Chairman ([email protected])
Mike Cole, Investor Relations: 949-444-1341 ([email protected])

SOURCE: Noble Romans, Inc.

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

H.E.Young--AMWN