New finance chief to support company’s renewal plan
Fiesta Restaurant Group tapped a new chief financial officer as of September 9. Dirk Montgomery takes on the role at Fiesta, the parent of Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana. Montgomery as a long career in the restaurant, retail apparel and consumer packaged goods. He served most recently as the chief financial officer at Hooters, a casual-dining chain with 425 units.
New Fiesta chief financial officer has deep retail, restaurant expertise
Montgomery also worked at Bloomin’ Brands, Inc., as chief financial officer. Bloomin’ Brands is the operator and franchisor of Outback Steakhouse, Carrabba’s Italian Grill, Bonefish Grill, and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse. He also oversaw supply chain and IT during his time there. Earlier, he was chief financial officer of Health Insurance Innovations, Inc., and at Ascena Retail Group, Inc., a retailer of women’s clothing.
Earlier in his career, Montgomery served in executive financial roles at several retailers. These included Conagra Foods Retail Group, where he was chief financial officer of Express. He also held a variety of senior management roles at Sara Lee Corporation.
As the new Fiesta chief financial officer, Montgomery will support the organization’s renewal plan and help drive sales and profitability, said Richard Stockinger, Fiesta president and chief executive. He also added, “We are pleased to welcome Dirk to Fiesta as our new CFO. Dirk is a uniquely qualified individual and seasoned leader who brings to us an impressive track record of strengthening organizations and driving value through strategic focus, operational improvement, and talent development.”
Also, Fiesta has been looking to reinvigorate its performance as of late. In the second quarter of 2019, total revenue decreased 3 percent, and Pollo Tropical and Taco Cabana comparable sales decreased 1.3 and 3.0 percent, respectively. In 2018, revenue increased 2.9 percent on comparable sales growth of 2.2 percent. However, full-year 2018 adjusted EBITDA of $68M was basically flat to the prior year.
Photo credit: Fiesta Restaurant Group
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