使用警語:中文譯文來源為 Google 翻譯,僅供參考,實際內容請以英文原文為主
Operator
Good morning and welcome to the Restaurant Brands International first-quarter 2016 earnings conference call.
(Operator Instructions)
Please note, this event is being recorded.
Now I would like to turn the conference over to Andrea John, Senior Director of Investor Relations.
Please go ahead.
- Senior Director of IR
Thank you, operator.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Restaurant Brands International's earnings call for the first quarter ended March 31, 2016.
A live broadcast of this call may be accessed through the Investor Relations page on our website at investor.
RBI.com, and a recording will be available for replay.
Joining me on the call are Restaurant Brands International CEO, Daniel Schwartz, and CFO, Josh Kobza.
The team will be available to answer questions during the Q&A portion of today's call.
Today's earnings call and presentation contain forward-looking statements, which are subject to various risks set forth in the press release issued this morning.
This earnings call and presentation include non-GAAP financial measures.
Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures are included in the earnings presentation and press release available on our website.
Let's begin with the agenda for today's call on slide 2. Daniel will review first-quarter highlights at Restaurant Brands International.
He will then discuss brand-specific performance at Tim Hortons and Burger King.
Josh will discuss consolidated financial results for the quarter.
Daniel will share some concluding remarks, before opening up the call for Q&A.
With that, I'll turn the call over to Daniel.
- CEO
Thank you, Andrea, and good morning, everyone.
Thank you for joining us today.
I am pleased to report our results for the first quarter of 2016 at RBI, led by the strong performance at our two iconic brands, Tim Hortons and Burger King.
This quarter, we reported adjusted EBITDA of $408 million and adjusted diluted EPS of $0.30 a share.
Setting a solid foundation for the remainder of the year.
Starting on slide 4, we achieved strong comparable sales growth at both brands this quarter.
Successful marketing platforms, innovative product launches, and consistent focus on guest satisfaction led to global same-store sales growth of 5.6% for Tim's and of 4.6% for Burger King.
Strong sales momentum at both brands contributed to growth in franchisee profitability, building on the progress that we made last year to further improve our restaurant operators' bottom line.
On the development front, our restaurant count grew by 4.1% year over year, and we added 30 net new restaurants during the quarter.
We continue to be encouraged by our strong development pipeline for the full year at both of our brands, and are confident in our ability to accelerate the pace of restaurant growth versus the prior year.
Favorable comparable sales and restaurant development led to first quarter systemwide sales growth of 7.9% and 10% at Tim's and Burger king respectively.
These strong top line results and consistent cost discipline contributed to RBI's adjusted EBITDA of $408 million, which was up 23% organically compared to the prior year.
Turning to slide 6, it has been another positive quarter for Tim Hortons.
Continued strength in beverages as well as our food platforms across day parts led to good results across all regions, with global comparable sales up by 5.6% during the quarter.
Restaurant count was 3.2% up year on year, with 25 net new restaurants added during the quarter.
Systemwide sales grew by 7.9% in constant currency, and Tim's adjusted EBITDA of $228 million grew by 35% organically versus the prior-year results.
Moving to slide 7, we discuss our first-quarter highlights in Canada.
Same-store sales growth of 5.6% was driven by successful limited-time offerings, such as the Pulled Pork sandwich and the Croissant Breakfast sandwich which was added to our breakfast offering.
We also continued to experience good results with the relaunch of Nutella products starting in mid March, and drove strength in coffee with another great year of roll up the rim.
While we were very pleased with the Q1 sales performance in Canada, I would note that there was a benefit to our comps from both the Leap Year effect and from better weather compared to the prior year.
And that we're going to be facing some more challenging prior-year comparable sales levels as we progress throughout the year.
With net restaurant growth of 17%, we grew the store count in Canada by 2% versus prior year, and continue to see significant opportunities to create value for all of our stakeholders through accelerated growth across regions and channels in our home market.
Let's discuss our results for the Tim's business in the US on slide 8. First-quarter comparable sales growth of 5.8% was driven by impactful product launches, such as the Croissant Breakfast sandwich and strength in our base coffee business.
On the development front, we signed important new development agreements in Columbus and Indianapolis during the first quarter.
Marking further progress in our strategy to build partnerships with well capitalized, strong operators who share our vision for the Tim Hortons brand in the United States.
The quick succession of development agreements in Cincinnati, Columbus and Indianapolis starting in the fourth quarter of last year, speaks to our commitment in finding the right partners and increasing our presence in the world's largest QSR market.
We are excited to continue to bring great Tim's restaurants to our guests in the United States.
We look forward to supporting our new Partners as they begin developing new restaurants in their respective markets, while we continue to work on putting agreements in place with other attractive markets in the region.
In slide 9, we maintained our top line momentum on TH international, with comparable sales growth of 6.8%.
Beverages and baked goods contributed to favorable results, with local innovation and global platforms like Grilled Wraps contributing to continued momentum in the region.
We have grown the restaurant count by 95% over the last 12 months and now operate in six countries across the Middle East, with strong prospects for further expansion in the region for many years to come.
Turning to slide 11, let's discuss the first-quarter results at Burger King.
Our balanced approach to menu, marketing, image and operations led to comparable sales growth of 4.6%, while restaurant count grew by 4.3% year over year across developed and emerging markets.
This led to systemwide sales growth of 10%, and adjusted EBITDA growth of 10% on an organic basis to $180 million for the quarter.
On slide 12, we had good results in the US and Canada, with first quarter comparable sales growth of 4.4%.
Performance is driven by impactful new product launches including the launch of Grilled Dogs, which brought our signature flame grilling technique we have been perfecting for more than 60 years to hot dogs.
We offered Grilled Dogs at more than 7,000 restaurants, and they have quickly become guest favorites.
Similar to what I mentioned regarding Tim Hortons, Burger King's US and Canada business positively benefited from better weather and a Leap Year impact in the first quarter.
In addition, as we transitioned into Q2, we have seen sales levels soften a bit sequentially.
However, we remain very confident that we have the right strategy in place to deliver strong results for the year and for the long run.
Turning to slide 13.
EMEA recorded comparable sales growth of 3.6% for the quarter, with strength in Russia, Spain, and the UK.
Restaurant count grew by 7% year over year, led by Russia, Spain, France, and Turkey.
In Russia, our joint venture has plans to reaccelerate the pace of development in 2016, while in Spain our newest joint venture is up and running and we expect it to be a significant contributor to our full-year growth.
On slide 14, APAC comparable sales growth for the quarter was 4.7%, driven by growth in China, where we saw double-digit same-store sales growth as well as strong performance Korea and Japan.
Restaurant count grew by 18% year over year, with 24 net new restaurants for the quarter, with notable openings in China and India, two of our most important joint ventures that have been formed in the past few years.
Moving to slide 15.
We achieved strong same-store sales growth of 10.1%, led by excellent results in Brazil and Argentina.
Our restaurant count grew by 5% year over year, mostly driven by Burger King Brazil.
I will now turn it over to Josh who will discuss the financial results for the quarter.
- CFO
Thanks, Daniel.
Let's turn to slide 17, where we review RBI financial results for the quarter.
In addition to restaurant growth over the past 12 months, our strong same-store sales along with discipline on costs at Tim's and Burger King resulted in first-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $408 million, which grew 23% on an organic basis versus prior-year results.
Adjusted net income increased 92% year over year to $142 million or $0.30 per share, as we transitioned to a less capital intensive development model at Tim's, and achieved interest expense savings primarily as a result of last year's debt refinancing.
Last May, we paid down $300 million of total debt and repriced our term loan to L plus 275 basis points with a 1% LIBOR floor.
Furthermore, in December of last year, we repurchased 8.15 million partnership exchangeable units, resulting in diluted weighted average shares of 468.4 million on an as converted basis.
Moving to slide 18, we achieved free cash flow of $190 million during the quarter, driven by adjusted EBITDA growth and the transition to a franchisee led development model.
We maintained a balanced approach to capital allocation, returning capital to shareholders, paying down our debt, and reinvesting in the business.
This quarter, we allocated capital across debt repayment of $17 million and dividends of $128 million, ending the quarter with $826 million in cash.
Turning to slide 19, we show our capital structure.
As of March 31, 2016, our total debt was $9 billion, and our net leverage was 4.7 times LTM adjusted EBITDA, down approximately 0.5 turns year over year.
Moving on to slide 20.
On April 27, 2016, the RBI Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.15 per common share and partnership exchangeable unit of RBI LP payable July 6, 2016.
I'll now hand if back to Daniel for concluding remarks.
- CEO
Thanks, Josh.
By increasing the presence of our brands around the world and improving the quality of every guest experience in our restaurants, we are driving positive same-store sales growth and increased profitability for our franchise partners and for RBI.
We are very encouraged with the progress this quarter, and are excited about the long-term growth prospects for our brands.
We have strong operating partners and dedicated employees all around the world who we believe will enable us to achieve our targets, and we look forward to updating you on our progress again next quarter.
Thank you for joining us today, and we will now open up the call for Q&A.
Operator?
Operator
Thank you.
(Operator Instructions)
Our first question comes from Nicole Miller of Piper Jaffray.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Thank you.
Good morning.
A couple product and development questions.
On the product side in Burger King, did the Grilled Dogs help mix shift?
Was that used as an entree or as an add-on item primarily?
- CEO
Hey, Nicole.
It's Daniel.
Yes, we were really pleased with the launch of the Grilled Dogs this quarter.
As we had discussed last time, this is one of the larger product launches that we have had in some time.
Our way of bringing flame grilling to a great product that folks know and love.
We saw both.
We saw new guests coming to come try the Grilled Dogs, we saw existing guests adding Grilled Dogs to their meals.
So we saw it as a mix of entrees and add-ons.
So it was a nice healthy mix, with a good ticket average for us.
So we were really pleased with the performance of the Grilled Dogs, both from a guest satisfaction and from a franchise profitability standpoint.
- Analyst
How can we think -- turning to development, how can we think about development through the year?
I know it's difficult because it's franchised and there is only so much you control, and obviously, you are growing globally.
But should we look for this 1Q as the pace for the rest of the year, or an acceleration potentially as we go through the year?
- CEO
Yes.
Hey, Nicole.
It's Daniel again.
No.
We would look to see the pace of growth across both brands accelerate for the balance of the year.
We are really excited about the outlook for restaurant growth at Restaurant Brands International.
On the Tim Hortons front, you have seen some of the development agreements that we have put in place in the US where we are actively expanding the brand.
We have a long track record in the US, 25-year track record with Tim Hortons and run 650 restaurants today.
And we have signed important development agreements in places like Cincinnati, Columbus, most recently, Indianapolis, and we are excited to see these come to life and bring this great Tim Hortons guest experience to folks in these markets.
And we would see initiatives like this enable us to accelerate the pace of growth on the Tim's front.
On the Burger King front, similarly, new master franchise agreements that we have signed in the last year, year and a half, places like Spain, Germany, Italy.
And as you know last year, our excellent operating Partners in Burger King France acquired and now are in the process of converting Quick restaurants.
So we are excited to see the pace of development accelerate in France through the conversion of Quick restaurants.
We're seeing things ramp back up in Russia, so lots of good things.
Both brands all around the world give us confidence in our ability to accelerate the pace of net restaurant growth at RBI this year.
- Analyst
Just a last big picture question.
As you look down the road, and this is well into the future, how do you view your ability to grow the portfolio brands and really leverage the human capital both corporate and the franchise network you have built?
The operational play-book, and really balance that with access to capital?
- CEO
Yes.
What we like about our business, the industry that we operate in, the incredibly iconic brands that we own, there is so much room for organic growth.
And I talked about all those countries between both of the brands, and I didn't even mention all the Tim's international projects that we're working on as well.
So we feel like there is so much headroom in front of us to grow our brands and our business organically.
And you saw, this quarter we grew organic EBITDA by over 20%.
We feel like we have so much on our plate and we are just focused on running our two brands.
And if we run our two brands really well, we can continue to deliver great value for our guests, our franchisees, our employees, our shareholders for the long run.
So we are just focused on the two brands right now.
- Analyst
Thank you.
- CEO
Thanks, Nicole.
Operator
Our next question comes from Will Slabaugh of Stephens Inc.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Hey, thanks, guys.
This is actually Billy on for Will right now.
I'm wondering if you could just elaborate a little bit more on the comment you made regarding a little bit of sales softening to start 2Q, and whether or not there are any underlying geographical trends or maybe any day part trends that you might be able to speak to?
Thanks.
- CEO
Yes, it's Daniel.
The comment in reference to the Burger King business, internationally we saw the strong pace continue.
We did see the trend soften a bit in the US.
As it's been our policy in the past, that if we saw a departure from trend, we would mention it.
We don't see anything in particular in the day parts worth going into.
But what I'd say is we're confident in the strategy, focused on the guests, focused on our owners' profits, and we're really confident on our outlook for the full year and for the long term.
- Analyst
Thanks.
That's helpful and congrats on a great quarter.
- CEO
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from Joseph Buckley of Bank of America.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Hey, guys.
This is Greg Frankfurt on for Joe.
Just on the Tim Hortons' business, so the cost of sales margin this quarter, very, very strong.
And I am just wondering what primarily is driving that?
Is that Company store closures?
Is that the Tim Hortons' distribution business that you guys are able to take some costs out there?
- CFO
Hello, Greg.
It's Josh.
Good morning.
So there are three primary drivers that I would call out for you on that one.
The first one is that we have a significantly lower number of VIE's this year.
So we have managed to reduce the number of VIE's that we have by basically turning more of those into normal franchise agreements.
The second piece is, we have been able to grow our retail business very significantly year on year, and that business line has higher margins than the overall segment has had historically.
And the third piece is, as you've mentioned, we have been able to achieve some cost reductions in the overall supply chain business.
So those are the three big drivers that have allowed us to improve the margins in that segment.
- Analyst
Got it.
And then could you just give us an update on where you stand with the Quick transaction, and maybe the pace of conversions or how many you have done so far?
- CFO
Yes.
I think, as Dan mentioned earlier, we closed the transaction at the end of last year.
And we are working very closely with our Partners in France to move forward with the conversions of the Quick restaurants in France.
We are really pleased with the pace that we are moving together with our Partners and the local franchisees in France.
We haven't given any guidance.
But we are moving as quickly as possible to begin converting restaurants this year.
- Analyst
Last one from me.
Just China, I know you talked about the fourth quarter and last year comping up 15%.
What have you seen into early 2016?
Has that market continued to post results in that range?
- CEO
Yes.
We have seen very, very strong continued results in our Burger King China business.
We have made such incredible progress there in the past few years.
We accelerated the pace of restaurant growth, improved unit level economics, bringing the great Burger King experience to more and more guests throughout China.
And we really attribute that to having some of the best operating partners in the world in our Partners from [Tabgita] who are leading the efforts there in China.
- Analyst
Thanks, guys.
- CEO
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from Brian Bittner of Oppenheimer & Company.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Thank you, thanks very much.
Just going back to the sales trends comments on the Burger King US business, I realize the trend is not something is too worrisome.
But from your perspective, what do you think is the main driver of the softening?
Do you think it's a weather impact change?
Or are you seeing something competitively that you want to point out, or is this more just in line with the softening of the entire industry maybe?
- CEO
Brian, it's Daniel.
Its hard to say.
I think you're right.
The comment was limited to the BK US business internationally.
We have seen the business continue to go on a strong pace.
The industry is always competitive.
In the first quarter, we did have a little bit of a benefit from some better weather.
There was the extra day from the Leap Year.
And as we said in the past, the industry is always competitive.
It's our job to grow independent of macro situation.
We have a policy that if we depart a bit from trend, we will let you know.
But like I said, we are still confident in our strategy, driving guest satisfaction, driving franchise owner profitability.
We have made a lot of progress in the Burger King business in the US over the past few years, going from [$1.1 million] per restaurant to [$1.3 million] per restaurant.
And it's our job to continue growing from there, delivering on that great guest experience, further growing our franchise profitability.
And we feel really good about our outlook for the full year, and for the long term in the Burger King US business.
And some quarters will be stronger than others, and that's how our business works.
But we still feel really good about things.
- Analyst
Totally understand.
Thanks for that.
And just the second question is just, I know it's not that big of an impact to your profitability, because it's mostly franchise.
But the restaurant margins for Burger King, they were quite incredible.
I don't think we have really seen anything like this out of Burger King, almost 20% restaurant margins.
Year over year, what's really driven that?
Is that really a commodity thing?
Or what are you leveraging there?
How did you get that much margin expansion in the Company-owned stores?
- CFO
Brian, this is Josh.
What I would say is we've talked quite a lot about how we have been able to drive significant increases in sales through 2015.
You saw solid sales performance at Burger King in the US in Q1 of 2016 as well, and that's driven meaningful increases in profitability at restaurant levels for both our franchise partners and for our Company-owned restaurants.
So I think what you are seeing in our restaurant level profitability is a very positive trend, and we are seeing that for our Partners at the franchise level as well.
- Analyst
Okay.
Thanks.
- CFO
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from Mark Petrie of CIBC.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Yes.
Good morning.
You spoke about accelerating the net restaurant growth.
And I wanted to ask specifically about the BK banner in the US, what you see as the potential for that and what your guys' decision criteria would be in terms of adding new locations?
- CEO
Yes.
It's Daniel.
We definitely see an opportunity to grow the size of the BK US business, both in terms of our sales per restaurant and in terms of the number of restaurants.
We have worked closely with our franchise Partners over the past five plus years to invest alongside them in reimaging our restaurants, and we have made a lot of progress on that front.
This, we felt, was the best priority for us and our franchisees to devote our resources to accelerating the pace of reimaging in the past.
So if you rewind, a few years ago, we had about 10% of the restaurants in the United States at Burger King with a modern image, having been renovated.
And at the end of last year, we took that number up to 50%.
And you're going to continue seeing us to invest in this in order to provide that great atmosphere and that overall great guest experience.
However, as you mentioned, we do see an opportunity now to also begin accelerating the pace of growth in Burger King in the US as is the case all around the world.
- CFO
I think if I can just add to that, from my prior comment, I think one of the biggest things that we focus on is franchisee profitability.
You have seen a big change in franchisee profitability in the US, and that's fundamentally what will drive growth in the system.
There is clearly a huge opportunity for us to expand the footprint of Burger King in the US, and bring the brand to more communities around the country.
As we increase the sales of our restaurants and increase the profitability of our restaurants, we're going to make it even more attractive to do that for our franchise Partners.
- Analyst
Okay.
Thanks.
That's really helpful.
Josh, just to follow up on a previous comment of yours with regards to supply chain efficiency at Tim's.
Could you just talk a little bit about what the initiatives there have been, and what the future opportunity is from here?
- CFO
Across the supply chain, our number one focus is just making sure that we supply the best products and the best service to our restaurants at the right cost to our restaurants.
And that's really what we've been focused on.
I think we have been doing a good job of that over the course of the past 18 months.
- Analyst
And do you see continued opportunity?
- CFO
Yes.
We're always going to be focused on improving our operations across supply chain, as with all of our operations around the world.
- Analyst
Okay.
Thanks very much.
- CFO
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from Andrew Charles of Cowen and Company.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Great, thank you.
I was curious about BK US.
You mentioned the success of Grilled Dogs in 1Q, but curious why you didn't call out the five for $4 promotion driving sales.
As you mentioned on the 4Q call that January sales were off to a strong start.
- CEO
Yes.
Hello, Andrew.
It's Daniel.
I think when you look at what drives our results in the Burger King US business or any of the Burger King businesses or even this sort of Tim' as well, it's all four pillars of the strategy.
It's the menu, the marketing, image and great operations.
And there is no silver bullet.
There is no single product.
Yes, the Grilled Dogs did well.
We'd like to think that we have a balanced approach with respect to premium and value.
So we have products at price like the Grilled Dogs and the chicken fries and our core Whopper sandwich.
Yes, there are some that are value offerings, five for $4 being one of them.
But there is no single silver bullet.
I think we saw a nice benefit from all the restaurants that we have reimaged over the last few years.
We're seeing a benefit from delivering seeing better and better great guest service, and it's our job to offer convenience and value across our whole menu.
- Analyst
Maybe similarly then and just in April and focused on what's in your control.
You were featuring the Angriest Whopper at the beginning of the month, and then quickly pivoted back to five for $4, Grilled Dogs and now chicken rings.
So is it fair to say the intensified focus on value is needed to continue to compete in the current quick service environment just given the aggressive dynamics you're seeing?
- CEO
Yes.
Andrew, it's Daniel.
The quick service restaurant industry is a competitive one, it's always been a competitive industry.
It's our job to grow independent of what's going on from a macroeconomic perspective.
And I think you see us always with a balanced approach every quarter, every year.
We have good offerings in the value, and we have good offerings in core, good offerings in premium.
So you'll see us playing across the full spectrum, because that's what our guests want.
- Analyst
Thank you.
- CEO
Thanks.
Operator
Our next question comes from Karen Holthouse of Goldman Sachs.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Hello, this is Harsh Anisia on for Karen.
Congrats on a great quarter.
We've see Burger King work with two bundle options in the past, the five for $4 and the two for $5.
What do you think the puts and takes have been between the two in terms of operations, margin profile, consumer resonance, flexibility and the ability to keep new news in front of consumers?
Would be curious for any thoughts you are willing to share?
- CEO
Thanks, Harsh.
Like we said before, we believe in taking a balanced approach.
We like to offer our guests good value.
We think the five for $4, the two for $5, those are two examples of good value.
We think the Grilled Dogs is a great value at the price point at which we launched it.
And we actually -- we think across the whole menu, we have plenty of good value offerings, and it's our job to have a balance between premium and value.
And you have seen us do this in the past, you have seen us do this today.
What we can say is when we look at the guest satisfaction levels, we see them continuing to trend positively.
And at the end of the day, the best metric for us to look at is the growth in our franchise profitability, which has been strong last year and has continued to be strong into 2016.
So if we can drive great guest satisfaction, drive continued restaurant owner profitability, then we feel like we are doing the right thing.
Thank you.
- Analyst
Great.
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from David Palmer of RBC.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Hey, guys.
It's actually Art Gonzalez in for Dave Palmer.
I just want to circle back to the Tim's supply chain business for a second.
Obviously, you are achieving impressive cost savings in that part of the business.
But I think it would be helpful if you can help us visualize exactly how you are achieving those savings.
Perhaps if you could provide an example or two, I think it might be very helpful.
Thanks.
- CFO
Hey, Eric.
This is Josh.
As I said, across costs of sales, I think you're seeing a -- there is a few different big factors in there, and they are all driving a meaningful piece of the margin expansion that you're seeing.
Obviously, we have a pretty big initiative going on where we're trying to -- we have been converting some of the VIE restaurants to normal franchise agreements.
So that's affecting the margins in that business line.
We do have a pretty big and growing retail business that's present especially in Canada, but both in the US.
And that has been a big focus for us, and something that, especially through the back half of last year and the first half of this year, has been a big driver of performance.
And also, as you said, we have been able to find some efficiencies through our supply chain business.
So I would just emphasize that they are all of those things happening in that segment of the business that are helping us achieve better performance.
- Analyst
Maybe I'll circle back this way.
In order of magnitude, is the VIEs the biggest contributor or is it the retail business or the supply chain?
- CFO
We haven't provided disclosure on the exact size of each of those.
- Analyst
Okay, fair enough.
- CFO
Thanks, Eric.
- Analyst
Thanks.
Operator
Our next question comes from Keith Siegner of UBS.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Hello, this is Dennis Geiger on for Keith.
Thanks for the question.
Some of your competitors have announced quality upgrades in recent quarters.
Could you comment some on how you think Burger King stands as it relates to quality scores, and then are there any upgrades to core menu items currently being contemplated?
- CEO
Sure, it's Daniel.
On the Burger King front, we think we have great quality.
As you know, we flame grill all of our burgers, all of our grilled chicken sandwiches, which is an excellent taste and excellent flavor that our guests have known and loved.
The Whopper is America's favorite burger, it continues to be America's favorite burger, and we are really excited about that.
Thank you.
Operator
Our next question comes from David Hartley of Credit Suisse.
Please go ahead.
- Analyst
Thanks.
VIEs, could you tell me how many were converted in the quarter and how many are remaining?
How many VIEs do you have left in the system?
And should I assume they are all at Tim Hortons?
- CEO
Yes, of course.
So there were about -- there were 22 fewer versus Q4.
And compared to the prior year, there were 139 fewer.
And at the end of Q1, we have 119 at Tim Hortons.
- Analyst
119.
And so when you're converting these over, you just converted to the new structure of royalty plus wholesale margin on products you supply to them, but of course you are surrendering all the costs related to the in-store operations.
I have got that right, correct?
- CEO
Generally, we are converting them from what were historically.
For the most part, what you knew in the old Tim Hortons worlds is 80/20 agreements.
- Analyst
Right.
- CEO
To more traditional franchise agreements, that, as you said, are more based on our traditional royalty.
And where we own the properties, we'll earn rents on those agreements.
- Analyst
And in terms of properties, is there -- has there been any sales of property in the quarter?
And what is the outlook for your real estate holdings going forward?
Is that something you want to sell or leverage in some way?
- CEO
We are really happy with our existing real estate portfolio.
We are not making material real estate sales.
We don't have any intention to sell the broader real estate portfolio.
As was the case with the Burger King -- with the history with Burger King.
We have kept all of the real estate that we have had, and we have maintained that portfolio, and I think probably we have the intention of doing the same thing with the real estate portfolio that we have at Tim's.
We like the business, and we have the intention of keeping it.
- Analyst
Great.
Thanks.
- CEO
Thank you.
Operator
This concludes our question-and-answer session.
I would like to turn the conference back over to Daniel Schwartz for any closing remarks.
- CEO
Thank you, and thanks, everybody, for joining us today.
As we said before, we are focused on two things, which is delivering a great guest experience across both brands and driving our franchisees' profitability.
And we think if we continue to do these, it will support long-term sustainable value for our guests, our franchisees, our employees, and shareholders.
We look forward to updating you on this again next quarter.
Thank you.
Operator
The conference has now concluded.
Thank you for attending today's presentation.
You may now disconnect your lines.