030617 Largest Restaurants Chains Book $17.0 Billion

St. Paul, MN - Someone may be in the kitchen, but most likely it's at a restaurant, not at home, according to the Restaurant Finance Monitor's Top 200 franchisees, which rang up $17.0 billion in revenues in 2002.

The Monitor, which has tracked financial trends in the multi-unit restaurant sector for the past 11 years, just released its 2003 Restaurant Finance Monitor 200. The Monitor's ranking, sponsored by Imperial Capital Franchise Finance and b-50 Enterprise Solutions, tracks the top 200 restaurant franchisees in the nation by revenue. These top 200 companies booked $17.0 billion in revenue last year, up from $16.7 billion in 2001. While the revenue increased 1.8 percent-the slimmest percentage increase since the publication started tracking this group in 1992-the unit counts declined for the first time.

The list proves multi-unit restaurant franchisees play a significant role in nationwide restaurant revenue. Other key points in the survey:

-- Together the top 200 operate 16,223 restaurants;

-- The largest franchisee is RTM Restaurant Group, with about 800 Arby's restaurants and $750 million in sales;

--Almost 50 companies had revenue in excess of $100 million;

-- Applebee's was the most popular concept;

-- Franchisees needed to make $28 million in revenue to make the list in 2002.

"To our knowledge, we're the only company out there tracking the revenues of multi-unit franchisees," said Mary Jo Larson, publisher of the Monitor. "While our Top 200 combine for impressive numbers, there are many more significant restaurant franchisees just under that $28 million mark."

The Monitor, a monthly newsletter, covers finance sources, deal closings, mergers and acquisitions and real estate development. Imperial Capital Franchise Finance, a premier finance source in the multi-unit franchise sector, focuses on finance products to growing franchise companies. Technology company b-50 Enterprise Solutions offers real-time reporting solutions for multi-unit restaurant companies.

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