The ONE Group Hospitality, Inc. (NASDAQ:STKS) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

We’ve shrunk the sushi bar in Kona Grill which is a heavy labor user. So I think as the mix of the new design restaurants come into play, I think you will see the brand really coming to some very nice margins. I think the new prototype is in the 70%-level margin. And so yes, I mean that’s kind of the path that we now have for Kona Grill is continue working sales and the volumes in the new stores should be additive to the AUV for the brand and I think that the margin will improve for the brand.

Operator: Our next question comes from JP Wallin from ROTH MKM.

Unidentified Analyst: Maybe if we could just start with kind of the development pipeline at Kona. I just want to make sure I’m understanding correctly. The idea is something in the range of 2 to 4 units for 2023 and I was just hoping maybe you could expand on that a little bit. If I recall, I think we had 3 units pushed from last year into this year. And so maybe we’re kind of expecting to have had a few more coming in 2023. So anything you can maybe call out there and just confirm that 2 to 4 is the right number?

Manny Hilario: Yes. I mean so we have opened Columbus. And so now left in the pipeline, at least that we’re really working on, is — Riverton is pretty much almost built. But then we have Phoenix, Desert Ridge that’s almost also built. And then we have Anderson in Nevada which is also already in progress. And then Tigard is the next one that we’re working on. And then we’re doing the next one in Lake Union, Washington State. So we have all those sites in the process and it’s just a matter of opening them. So as we’ve discussed in the past, we are very sensitive to our neighborhood when we open these restaurants. So Riverton, we’re just waiting a couple of more weeks here to get to a place where I feel comfortable with the surrounding market and we will open that here.

And then Desert Ridge won’t be that much after that. So our commitment’s 3 to 5 on Kona Grill. You are correct, we did push 2. We did push the openings into the beginning of this year. So we’re going to get through those relatively quick here at the beginning of the year and then we will start working on the remaining pipeline towards the end of 2023.

Unidentified Analyst: Okay, great. If we could kind of turn a little bit to STK, I just want to talk for a second — I think earlier last year, we kind of talked a little bit about holiday event business and kind of what that could mean for Q4. And I’m just curious if there’s anything now that we’re through that, that you can tell us about kind of how the event business went, corporate events, holiday parties, anything like that. And just whether that gives you kind of any changes to your thoughts or your plans for 2023 and kind of targets there?

Manny Hilario: Yes. So I think as we’ve discussed previously, the business continues to build. So we do have positive momentum in that business. I think the fourth quarter, the books were really good for those type of events. I would say that — and although I’m not a weather guy and I don’t talk about weather a lot, we did have some harsh weather in December, too which I think kind of put a little bit of a damper perhaps on some of the event business and the stuff going on in the quarter. But I would say — overall, I would say that it was a very promising and actually very positive business there. And I think coming into this year, 2023, we’ve already seen the convention business really spark up, particularly, I think as we said in our prepared comments, Orlando, Vegas, Vegas has been very strong on the — on that.