Restaurant Brands 3rd-quarter saved by the Colonel

Dec. 9 – Restaurant Brands NZ Ltd. posted a 0.8% gain in third-quarter sales as revenue from its KFC outlets helped make up for falling turnover at Pizza Hut and Starbucks.

The company’s sales rose to NZ$69.6 million in the 12 weeks ended Dec. 1. KFC, which accounts for 69% of revenue, increased sales by NZ$2.3 million to NZ$47.9. Pizza Hutt sales plummeted 8.6% to NZ$14.6 million while Starbucks dropped 4.6% to NZ$7.2 million.

The strength of its KFC brand “a particularly satisfactory result in the face of tight economic conditions, rising consumer prices and the reported general downturn in retail sales,” the company said.

Restaurant Brands has been cutting costs at Pizza Hutt by closing down its dine-in restaurants as leases expire. It has also closed down non-performing Starbucks cafes, which it expects will improve its earnings at year-end.

Across all three brands, it has closed down ten stores over the last 12 months.

Same-store sales rose 1.1% to NZ$68.3 million. The company’s stock last traded at 59 cents and is down 36% from a year ago.

(Businesswire.co.nz)

ENDS

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