Restaurant Brands' second-quarter sales rise 32%

Thursday 22 September 2016 10:39 AM

Restaurant Brands' second-quarter sales rise 32%, driven by KFC in Australia

By Jonathan Underhill

Sept. 22 (BusinessDesk) - Restaurant Brands New Zealand posted a 32 percent gain in second-quarter sales, with the bulk of the increase coming from the 42 KFC stores in New South Wales acquired in April.

Sales rose by $38.6 million to $159.5 million in the 16 weeks ended Sept. 12, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Same-store sales, which are those for outlets open at least 12 months, rose 2.1 percent to $120.3 million.

The fast-food company made its first foray across the Tasman with the acquisition of the biggest KFC franchisee in NSW for A$82.4 million made up of A$62 million in cash and 5 million shares, which gave vendor Copulos Group almost 5 percent of the company with a 12-month escrow on trading the stock. Investors cheered the deal, pushing the shares up 36 percent since it was announced on March 4. They gained 0.9 percent to $5.70 today.

Total sales for KFC New Zealand rose 3.7 percent to $92 million, while the number of stores fell by one to 91. Pizza Hut sales fell 9.1 percent to $12.9 million as the company sold seven stores to independent franchisees, reducing total outlets to 37. Franchisees now own 53 of the 90 stores in the Pizza Hut network.

Starbucks Coffee sales edged up 0.1 percent to $7.8 million, although with one less store at 25, same-store sales gained 4 percent. Hamburger chain Carl's Jr, the company's newest brand, recorded a 10 percent gain in sales to $11.4 million as the number of stores rose by two to 20. Same-store sales fell 4.4 percent.

The company plans to release its first-half results on Oct. 26.

(BusinessDesk)

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