A&W Food Services of Canada Inc., announced its financial results for the 12-week and 24-week periods ended June 14, 2026, indicated growth in both sales and revenue.
“With Q2 2026 Same Store Sales Growth of 2.1%, we delivered our strongest quarterly Same Store Sales Growth in over two years, demonstrating the strength of A&W’s menu innovation and marketing. The success of our national smash-style burger promotion was the primary driver of this performance, increasing both guest counts and average cheque and contributing to our System Sales Growth of 3.9% for the quarter,” said Susan Senecal, President and CEO.
“Our bottom line results this quarter also reflect the impact of hosting our biennial A&W National Convention, which brought our franchisee community together and, as expected, created a temporary increase in our general and administrative expenses. We are also thrilled to have reached an important milestone in our Pret A Manger expansion, having opened our first franchised Pret shop at Vancouver International Airport on June 12th. We have secured additional leases and are actively pursuing new sites in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, and expect to have three to four franchised Pret locations open by the end of the year.”
SECOND QUARTER HIGHLIGHTS
For Q2 2026, compared to Q2 2025
- System Sales of $469.7 million increased by $17.4 million (3.9%)
- Revenue increased by $2.1 million (3%) to $70.8 million
- Operating costs increased by $1.1 million (3%) to $37.2 million
- General and administrative expenses increased by $2.0 million (18%) to $13.1 million, largely due to the biennial A&W National Convention that was held in Q2 2026
- Income before income taxes decreased by $1.2 million (7%) to $16.0 million
- Adjusted EBITDA decreased by $1.1 million (4%) to $24.4 million and Adjusted EBITDA Margin decreased 260 bps to 34.5% from 37.1% as a result of the increase in general and administrative expenses
- Cash Dividend of $0.480 per share was declared on June 1, 2026 and paid June 30, 2026
- Opened 8 new A&W restaurants and the first franchised Pret shop
The company explained that the increase in total revenue was due to increases in revenue streams that are primarily driven by System Sales, including advertising fund contributions, service fees and revenue generated from the distribution of food and supplies. The increase in service fee revenue also reflects the continuing migration of A&W restaurants from a 2.5% to a 3.5% service fee rate, leading to a higher weighted average service fee rate. These increases were partially offset by lower equipment and turnkey revenue, reflecting a smaller proportion of new A&W restaurants opened in Q2 2026 being turnkey, and the non-recurrence of revenue from the 2025 rollout of A&W’s new point of sale system, it noted.
“Revenue from corporate restaurants includes the revenue from the ten A&W restaurants and two Pret restaurants that are owned and operated corporately, all of which are located in Ontario. Revenue from corporate restaurants was $5.7 million for Q2 2026, down 2% from $5.8 million for Q2 2025. The decrease is mainly attributed to two of the A&W corporate restaurants being closed for modernization for several weeks during the quarter, partially offset by the opening of the second corporately owned Pret location in Q1 2026,” said the company.
It said total revenue of $130.2 million for YTD 2026 increased $0.3 million from YTD 2025’s total revenue of $129.9 million. The increase was due to increases in revenue streams that are primarily driven by System Sales, including advertising fund contributions, service fees and revenue generated from the distribution of food and supplies, partially offset by lower equipment and turnkey revenue.
System Sales for YTD 2026 were $872.6 million, up 2.7% from YTD 2025 System Sales of $849.2 million, due to an increase in the number of A&W restaurants and Same Store Sales Growth of 1.1%. Same Store Sales Growth for YTD 2026 reflected an increase in average cheque, partially offset by a decline in same store guest counts, as the benefit of the Q2 2026 smash-style burger promotion was offset by the impact of severe weather events in Eastern Canada in Q1 2026 and the non-recurrence of the 2025 GST/HST holiday, added A&W.
Revenue from corporate restaurants was $10.7 million for YTD 2026, down 3% from $11.0 million for YTD 2025, mainly attributable to the temporary closure of two A&W corporate restaurants for modernization in Q2 2026, the adverse impacts of severe weather in Q1 2026 and the prevailing economic environment in Ontario, partially offset by the opening of the second corporately owned Pret location in Q1 2026, it shared.
A&W said its outlook for 2026 is total A&W restaurants to be between 1,112 and 1,120 by the end of Fiscal 2026 (1,094 at the end of Fiscal 2025); System Sales Growth of 2.5% – 5.0% (2.8% in Fiscal 2025); and Same Store Sales Growth of 0.5% – 3.0% (1.2% in Fiscal 2025).
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