Topic: How To Invest

Q: Pat: What do you think about Second Cup, in general, and also its plan to convert some of its stores to selling marijuana? Thank you.

Article Excerpt

A: Second Cup Ltd., $2.70, Toronto symbol SCU (Shares outstanding: 19.9 million; Market cap: $53.8 million; www.secondcup.com) operates 275 specialty coffee cafes across Canada, of which 20 are company-owned and the remainder are operated by franchisees. Although the company’s total stores fell from 356 in 2013 to 310 in 2015, company-owned locations jumped from 10 to 32. Second Cup gets to keep all of the revenue from its own stores; at franchised stores, it receives only a fee based on sales. The rise in company-owned stores explains why its revenue during those three years rose 37.3%, from $27.2 million to $37.3 million. Due to increasing competition, Second Cup is closing unprofitable stores. As a result, its revenue fell 18.7% to $30.35 million in 2016, and declined again by 22.1% to $23.6 million in 2017. The company continues to lose money, mainly due to the declining revenue, store closure costs and writedowns. Its losses expanded from $7.4 million, or $0.74 a share, in 2013…