TORONTO — Restaurant Brands International Inc. (RBI) has announced three leadership promotions along with pre-released Q4 and full-year results for fiscal year 2018.
Daniel Schwartz, who was the CEO of Burger King in 2013 and has been the CEO of RBI since its formation in 2014, has been promoted to executive chairman of RBI and co-chairman of RBI’s board of directors. Along with this promotion, Schwartz will also take a more active role as a partner at 3G Capital.
Jose Cil, who has been the president of Burger King since 2014, has been promoted to CEO of RBI. In his new role, the global growth of RBI’s brands and increasing franchisee profitability will be among Cil’s top priorities. Schwartz will work closely with Cil over the next few months to ensure a smooth transition.
Josh Kobza has been promoted to COO of RBI following seven years as an executive in the business, including as CFO from 2013 through 2017 and as Chief Technology & Development Officer in 2018. In his new role, Kobza will continue to oversee the establishment of new international franchise partnerships, as well as the implementation of the company’s technology initiatives.
“I am very proud of the talented team that we have built at RBI,” says Schwartz. “This is a natural transition of roles for all of us and reflects how we were already beginning to operate the business day-to-day. I have great optimism for what I believe our team will achieve and we are looking forward to sharing further details with the investment community later this year.”
The company’s pre-released comparable-sales and net-restaurant-growth results indicate continued growth and performance for all three brands. Fourth-quarter comparable sales were up 1.9 per cent at Tim Hortons (2.2 per cent in Canada), increased 1.7 per cent at Burger King and grew 0.1 per cent at Popeyes. Net restaurant growth for the quarter was up 2.1 per cent for Tim Hortons, 6.1 per cent at Burger King and 7.3 per cent at Popeyes.
Additionally, the company announced its first Investor Day Conference, which will be held in New York City in May 2019 to provide more detail on its plans for long-term growth and value creation.
