Yoshiharu expects to initiates sales of franchises in 2025

Expects to open 2 – 3 new locations focusing on Southern California, while expanding to other locations including Boston, Seattle, and Montana; open new locations in Paris, London, and South Korea. CEO James Chae continued, “The fourth quarter of 2024 was underscored by strong revenue growth and profitably, driven by continued momentum with the opening of new U.S. locations, and entered into agreements to expand our geographic footprint internationally. In the fourth quarter, 47% revenue growth to $3.7 million and net income of $0.5 million was achieved primarily by our restaurant service across Southern California, Las Vegas and diversified mix of service channels, including takeout and delivery. We have successfully optimized operating expenses while maintaining a strong Average Unit Volume comparable to previous periods, despite continued headwinds from input costs, consumer price sensitivity, and higher cost of capital. In the U.S., we recently celebrated the grand opening of our newest US location in Menifee, one of the fastest-growing cities in Southern California. The new location benefits from Menifee’s rapid development and business-friendly environment. With one more location currently under development in Ontario, Canada, we continue to explore and evaluate new restaurant developments via corporate-owned restaurants, and through the development of a franchise program to accelerate national expansion and international openings. We also welcomed our new Board member Sungjoon Chae, who brings his deep expertise in architecture and design, specifically spaces that coalesce aesthetics and functionality, to support our global expansion efforts. Looking ahead, we are focused on further improvement to top- and bottom-line growth, and additional strategic expansion in the U.S. and China. Although the food and beverage markets are facing challenges such as increased input costs, consumer price sensitivity, and higher cost of capital, we have been able to improve operating expenses and have maintained a competitive AUV comparable to prior periods. New initiatives such as diversifying our mix of service channels, adding kiosks across our stores, and utilizing cooking robots to reduce labor costs will further growth and efficiencies. We look forward to additional updates on our anticipated milestones in the weeks and months to come.”