VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 13, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Keg Royalties Income Fund (TSX: KEG.UN or the “Fund”) today announced that it would be increasing the monthly distributions on units of the Fund (“Units”) commencing with the October 2021 distribution. Monthly distributions will be increased from their current level of $0.07 per Unit to $0.0946 per Unit, the level that existed before the Covid-19 pandemic forced us to lower distributions in April 2020. The revised monthly distribution of $0.0946 per Unit has therefore been declared and will be paid on October 29, 2021 to unitholders of record on October 21, 2021. Annually, the revised distributions result in an increase from the current level of $0.84 per Unit to approximately $1.14 per Unit. The Fund currently plans to make those distributions each month for the foreseeable future.
“The Trustees of the Fund are exceptionally pleased to be able to approve this increase in distributions to the Fund’s public Unitholders,” said Kip Woodward, Chairman of the Fund. “We have carefully reviewed KRL’s sales increases over recent months, the sales forecasts prepared by management of KRL, and the Fund’s existing cash position. Those factors have all contributed to justify the increase in monthly distributions. The Trustees will of course continue to monitor Keg's sales, as well as the Fund's cash reserves, and distributable cash, in order to assess the possibility of further distribution increases in the future.”
“The relaxation of many COVID-related operating restrictions has led to significant increases in The Keg’s sales levels when compared to the past eighteen months; in some cases, our sales have actually surpassed the pre-COVID 2019 sales we enjoyed. This has been achieved despite the continued physical distancing, vaccine passports and other limitations in most jurisdictions. We expect those remaining restrictions to be largely resolved in the near future enabling The Keg to return to the levels of sales and success we have enjoyed for over fifty years,” said David Aisenstat, CEO of The Keg. “Two things have become very clear to us: Firstly, our loyal Keg guests are delighted to once again enjoy our hospitality and we thank them for that. Secondly, our dedicated and talented Keggers are more excited than ever to provide the legendary Keg experience, and we gratefully thank them too,” added Mr. Aisenstat.
The Fund is a limited purpose, open-ended trust established under the laws of the Province of Ontario that, through The Keg Rights Limited Partnership (the "Partnership"), a subsidiary of the Fund, owns certain trademarks and other related intellectual property used by Keg Restaurants Ltd. (“KRL”). In exchange for use of those trademarks, KRL pays the Fund a royalty of 4% of gross sales of Keg restaurants included in the royalty pool.
Vancouver-based KRL is the leading operator and franchisor of steakhouse restaurants in Canada and has a substantial presence in select regional markets in the United States. KRL continues to operate The Keg restaurant system and expand that system through the addition of both corporate and franchised Keg steakhouses. KRL has been named one of the "50 Best Employers in Canada" for the past eighteen years.
