Papa Johns Announces Back to Better 2.0 Ahead of 26th Annual ICR Conference, and Provides Preliminary 2023 Sales and Unit Development

Papa John’s International, Inc. (NASDAQ: PZZA) (“Papa Johns”) today provided updates on long-term strategic initiatives designed to drive North America development, accelerate comparable sales growth and restaurant-level profitability in North America, as well as International profitability and long-term development. The Company also reported preliminary sales and unit development information for the fourth quarter and the full year ended December 31, 2023.

“It is our ambition to continue our positive momentum and to become the QSR pizza brand of choice for customers and franchisees around the world,” said Rob Lynch, Papa Johns president and CEO. “We are excited about Papa Johns’ future as the initiatives that we are undertaking, combined with our premium positioning in the marketplace, supportive franchisee base, and proven leadership team, will enable us to achieve our vision and deliver meaningful long-term value creation for all stakeholders.”

North America Strategic Growth Initiatives

Commenting on Papa Johns’ North America operations, Lynch said, “In 2023, our corporate and franchise teams delivered their fourth consecutive year of positive North America comparable sales, sustaining the sales growth that we experienced throughout the pandemic. At the same time, we have made foundational improvements in our restaurant operations, digital solutions and marketing platforms as part of our efforts to evolve our business model for the next chapter of growth. As we look to the future, we are optimizing our investments in data science and our marketing tech stack to unlock value for both the top and bottom lines. Building on these marketing improvements, and in a strong vote of confidence, our North American franchisees recently voted to significantly increase contributions to our National Marketing Fund, giving us more fuel to accelerate comparable sales growth and increase restaurant profitability. We are also confident the changes we are making to our commissary business and the new development incentive program, which is the largest development incentive in system history, will be mutually beneficial for our franchisees and our corporate business model.”