XML 47 R31.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.25.0.1
Segment Information
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 29, 2024
Segment Reporting [Abstract]  
Segment Information Segment Information
The Company is comprised of the following reportable and operating segments: (1) Wendy’s U.S., (2) Wendy’s International and (3) Global Real Estate & Development. Wendy’s U.S. includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in the U.S. and derives its revenues from sales at Company-operated restaurants and royalties, fees and advertising fund collections from franchised restaurants. Wendy’s International includes the operation and franchising of Wendy’s restaurants in countries and territories other than the U.S. and derives its revenues from sales at Company-operated restaurants and royalties, fees and advertising fund collections from franchised restaurants. Global Real Estate & Development includes real estate activity for owned sites and sites leased from third parties, which are leased and/or subleased to franchisees, and also includes our share of the income of our TimWen real estate joint venture. In addition, Global Real Estate & Development earns fees from facilitating Franchise Flips and providing other development-related services to franchisees.

The Company measures profit using segment adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (“EBITDA”), which excludes certain unallocated general and administrative expenses and other items that vary from period to period without correlation to the Company’s core operating performance. The Company’s President and Chief Executive Officer is the chief operating decision maker (the “CODM”) and uses segment adjusted EBITDA predominantly in periodic reviews of performance and during the annual budget and forecasting process. The CODM considers segment adjusted EBITDA when making decisions about allocating resources to the segments. When the CODM reviews balance sheet information, it is at a consolidated level. The accounting policies of the Company’s segments are the same as those described in Note 1. See Note 3 for a reconciliation of segment revenue to total revenue.

Wendy’s U.S. revenue, significant segment expenses and segment adjusted EBITDA are as follows:
Year Ended
202420232022
Wendy’s U.S. revenue$1,859,745 $1,815,845 $1,750,242 
Wendy’s U.S. expense
Cost of sales755,265 767,150 756,744 
Franchise support and other costs54,047 47,554 39,398 
Advertising fund expense (a)441,508 396,743 391,491 
General and administrative79,664 75,734 81,951 
Other segment items (b)3,307 312 160 
Wendy’s U.S. adjusted EBITDA$525,954 $528,352 $480,498 
_______________

(a)Includes advertising fund expense of $20,000 and $11,000 for 2024 and 2022, respectively, related to the Company funding of incremental advertising. There was no funding of incremental advertising during 2023.

(b)Other segment items primarily include lease buyout activity for 2024, 2023 and 2022.
Wendy’s International revenue, significant segment expenses and segment adjusted EBITDA are as follows:
Year Ended
202420232022
Wendy’s International revenue$144,690 $130,548 $106,705 
Wendy’s International expense
Cost of sales27,946 27,343 16,425 
Advertising funds expense (a)39,330 35,604 30,944 
General and administrative26,048 26,226 26,643 
Other segment items (b)8,098 5,671 2,261 
Wendy’s International adjusted EBITDA $43,268 $35,704 $30,432 
_______________

(a)Includes advertising fund expense of $1,919, $2,401 and $4,116 for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively, related to the Company’s funding of incremental advertising. In addition, includes other international-related advertising deficit of $827, $950 and $1,099 for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

(b)Other segment items primarily include franchise support and other costs.

Global Real Estate & Development revenue, significant segment expenses and segment adjusted EBITDA are as follows:
Year Ended
202420232022
Global Real Estate & Development revenue$242,057 $235,185 $238,558 
Global Real Estate & Development expense
Franchise rental expense127,446 125,371 124,083 
General and administrative15,301 15,660 16,282 
Other segment items (a)(9,277)(9,330)(10,507)
Global Real Estate & Development adjusted EBITDA$108,587 $103,484 $108,700 
_______________

(a)Other segment items primarily include equity in earnings from our TimWen joint venture, franchise support and other costs and gains on sales-type leases. Equity in earnings from our TimWen joint venture was $11,607, $10,819 and $9,422 for 2024, 2023 and 2022, respectively.
The following table reconciles profit by segment to the Company’s consolidated income before income taxes:
Year Ended
202420232022
Wendy’s U.S.$525,954 $528,352 $480,498 
Wendy’s International43,268 35,704 30,432 
Global Real Estate & Development108,587 103,484 108,700 
Total segment adjusted EBITDA677,809 667,540 619,630 
Unallocated franchise support and other costs(1,316)(831)(742)
Advertising funds surplus (deficit)2,702 4,344 (8,325)
Unallocated general and administrative (a)(134,195)(132,344)(130,103)
Depreciation and amortization (exclusive of amortization of cloud computing arrangements shown separately below)(143,234)(135,789)(133,414)
Amortization of cloud computing arrangements(14,701)(12,778)(2,394)
System optimization gains, net1,219 880 6,779 
Reorganization and realignment costs(8,528)(9,200)(698)
Impairment of long-lived assets(9,713)(1,401)(6,420)
Unallocated other operating income, net1,316 1,563 9,001 
Interest expense, net(123,881)(124,061)(122,319)
Gain on early extinguishment of debt— 2,283 — 
Investment income (loss), net11 (10,358)2,107 
Other income, net24,924 29,570 10,403 
Income before income taxes$272,413 $279,418 $243,505 
_______________

(a)Includes corporate overhead costs, such as employee compensation and related benefits.