CKF - Collins Foods
22 July 2026
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Over the last 5 years, ASX:CKF (Collins Foods) has grown its revenue consistently but experienced volatile profits, with a steep plunge in FY25 before a major recovery in FY26. While net debt increased for most of the period, the company has actively paid it down. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Key Financial Metrics & Performance
- Revenue: Steady top-line growth over the past 5 years, reaching a record $1.59 billion from continuing operations in FY26. [1]
- Profit (NPAT): Highly volatile. Net profit hit historical highs around $76 million in FY24, dropped roughly 88% to $8.8 million in FY25 due to European restructuring/impairments and inflation, but rebounded strongly in FY26, with statutory profit jumping 280.5% to $47.1 million. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- Debt: Net debt grew significantly over the past several years but was reduced to $119.6 million by the end of FY26. The net leverage ratio improved to 0.77, giving the company increased capacity to invest in its core markets. [1, 2, 3]
- Return on Equity (ROE): Has fluctuated with net income. It peaked near 19.4% in FY23 but compressed heavily during the FY25 downturn before rebounding alongside profitability in FY26. [1, 2]
For the full year 2026 (FY26), Collins Foods (ASX: CKF) achieved a Return on Equity (ROE) of 11.39%. This indicates how efficiently the company is using these equity investments to generate profit and shareholder value. [1, 2]
Key Financial Metrics & Full Year Highlights (FY26)
Collins Foods reported record Group Revenue and strong underlying profits for the 53 weeks ended 3 May 2026. [1]
- Return on Equity (ROE): 11.39%
- Group Revenue: $1,592.6M (up 8.6% from FY25)
- Underlying NPAT: $61.4M (up 13.0%)
- Statutory NPAT: $47.1M (up 280.5%)
- Total FY26 Dividend: Fully franked (3.8% per year) 28.0 cents per share (cps), consisting of a 15.0 cps final dividend
- Capital Return and Strategy: The company successfully announced a strategic exit from Taco Bell in Australia to focus primarily on KFC and finalized the acquisition of eight KFC restaurants in Bavaria, Germany
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- Dividends: The company has managed to maintain or grow dividends despite earnings fluctuations, declaring a total FY26 fully franked dividend of 28.0 cents per share (up from 26.0 cents in FY25). [1]
Strategic Moves & Outlook
The recent bottom-line improvement is largely driven by its highly reliable KFC Australia operations. Meanwhile, the company has actively restructured its international and secondary portfolios by strategically acquiring additional stores in Germany and announcing an exit from the Taco Bell brand in Australia to refocus its capital. [1, 2, 3]
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PE Ratios
The Price-to-Earnings (P/E) ratio for Collins Foods Limited (ASX: CKF) has historically fluctuated between a low of 11.02 and a high of 157.84 over the last 10 years, carrying a 10-year median of 23.94. [1, 2]
Historical P/E Ratio Overview (2016–2026)
Collins Foods' P/E ratio trends mirror shifts in its fast-food footprint (KFC and Taco Bell) and notable accounting adjustments (such as AASB 16 lease changes). A massive outlier occurred in FY25 when a steep, temporary drop in statutory net income caused a massive technical spike in the trailing P/E ratio. [1, 2]
- Current P/E Ratio (Mid-2026): ~20.20 (based on normalizing normalized earnings), though some platforms report a trailing 12-month (TTM) P/E up over 110x depending on how the prior year's compressed earnings are filtered.
- Forward P/E Ratio: 14.58 to 14.65, signaling an expectation of normalized earnings recovery going forward.
- 10-Year High: 157.84 (hit during the volatile FY25 compressed-earnings cycle).
- 10-Year Median: 23.94.
- 10-Year Low: 11.02. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Approximate Annual P/E Ratio Clean Tracking
Below is the approximate financial year-end trailing P/E trend gathered across historical financial tracking platforms like GuruFocus and Stock Analysis: [1]
| Year [1, 2, 3] | Approximate P/E Ratio (Year-End) | Context & Driver |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Current) | 20.20 | Earnings normalization; improved margin efficiency. |
| 2025 | 119.00 | Spike caused by an 84% plunge in net profit due to high input expenses. |
| 2024 | 22.39 | Strong consumer demand resilience despite rising inflation. |
| 2023 | 109.96 | Statutory impairments on underperforming stores bloated the P/E structure. |
| 2022 | 15.10 | Strong post-lockdown fast-food sales velocity. |
| 2021 | 79.53 | High COVID-19 related non-cash write-downs artificially minimized EPS. |
| 2020 | 22.02 | Baseline pandemic operational consistency. |
| 2019 | 17.50 | Stable European KFC market build-out. |
| 2018 | 16.90 | Standard operational retail valuation multiple. |
| 2017 | 18.20 | Acquisition expansion of KFC networks across Australia. |
| 2016 | 15.40 | Steady organic fast-food growth phase. |
Key Takeaways for Investors
- Beware the Statutory Spikes: Collins Foods routinely reports structural differences between "Statutory" and "Underlying/Normalized" profit. Non-cash impairments heavily skew the raw data. []
- Current Value Proximity: Trading at a forward P/E of roughly 14.6x, CKF is tracking noticeably cheaper than its historic 10-year median. This drop points to a compression in valuation multiples across ASX consumer discretionary stocks. [1, 2, 3]
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Charts
Buy below $8
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ROIC Vs WACC
Collins Foods Limited (ASX:CKF) has historically maintained a return on invested capital (ROIC) that hovers around 6% to 9% against a weighted average cost of capital (WACC) estimated at roughly 5% to 7.7%, yielding a modest positive spread that indicates steady value creation. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Capital Efficiency and Value Creation
- ROIC Range: Over recent reporting periods spanning its historical profile, Collins Foods shows an ROIC generally tracking between 6.4% and 8%, reflecting consistent operating profitability from its core quick-service restaurant operations across Australia and Europe. [1, 2, 3, 4]
- WACC Range: Estimates for CKF's WACC cluster in the 5.3% to 7.7% range, driven by a capital structure balanced with moderate debt weighting (near 46%) and an underlying cost of equity of about 7.8%. [1, 2]
- Spread Analysis: The marginal difference (ROIC minus WACC) generally stays near even or slightly positive, pointing to an environment where the company incrementally creates shareholder value through store network expansions and steady earnings performance, though returns remain sensitive to competitive pricing pressures and delivery cost fluctuations
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