DUBAI: Americana Restaurants International, a fast food restaurant operator in the Middle East, saw revenue decline 15% in the fourth quarter as geopolitical tensions impacted its business performance, a senior executive said on Thursday.

Americana, the regional franchisee for brands such as KFC, Hardee's and Pizza Hut, listed on the Abu Dhabi and Saudi exchanges in late 2022, raising $1.8 billion through an initial public offering (IPO).

"Our full year like-for-like revenue growth was negative due to the notable impact on business performance in the fourth quarter driven by the regional geopolitical situation which has impacted the majority of international brands including ours," Harsh Bansal, the company's CFO said in an earnings call.

"The revenue in Q4 2023 declined 15%," he said, adding that the company anticipated a continued recovery over future quarters.

Americana earlier declared a one-time special dividend of $50 million as well as a $130 million ordinary dividend for the full year, sending its Abu Dhabi listed shares almost 15% higher. The shares are up 5.11% year to date.

The company reported full-year net profit attributable to shareholders of $259.5 million, little changed from 2022. Full year revenue rose 1.5% to $2.41 billion.

Executives said the company was focused on redirecting expansion towards countries that have been less affected by regional instability while allowing markets that are recovering time to stabilise.

(Reporting by Federico Maccioni and Rachna Uppal; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Kirsten Donovan)