KEY POINTS:
Fried chicken and coffee drinks continued to be the star performers for Restaurant Brands as its pizza business maintained its steady sales slide in the company's fourth quarter.
Total sales for the 12 weeks ended February 25 were $70.4 million, up 1 per cent on the same period last year.
KFC, which accounts for 67 per cent of the company's total sales, continued to perform well. Total sales were up 6.2 per cent to $47.3 million, while same-store sales were up 4.9 per cent to $46.3 million.
Starbucks Coffee meanwhile recorded its 17th consecutive quarter of sales growth, with same-store sales up 6.4 per cent to $7.9 million.
The cheese on top would have been Pizza Hut, but it continued to disappoint with same-store sales down 8.2 per cent.
Restaurant Brands' total New Zealand sales for the full year exceeded $300 million for the first time, at $303.5 million. Total sales and same-store sales were up 3.4 per cent for the year.
Same-store sales for KFC and Starbucks were up for the full year by 7.7 per cent and 4 per cent respectively, while Pizza Hut's fell by 7 per cent.
Chief executive Russel Creedy said Pizza Hut's recovery was slower than they'd hoped. "We are seeing signs of a flattening out of that sales decline we experienced last year, and the important thing is controlling profit margins in the business."
The brand's store operations were being revamped, said Creedy. One aspect of this was menu rationalisation.
"The essence of Pizza Hut is about making and selling pizzas, so ... I think we need to keep our minds focused on the quality and value in our pizzas, and less on sides.
"It's just generally working the menu to be more in line with current trends and taste. I think there's an opportunity to add a few newer flavours to the menu and probably delete some that have not performed as well."
Forsyth Barr analyst Guy Hallwright said although Pizza Hut continued to disappoint, it was a much smaller component of the company's total sales than KFC.
The pizza brand was operating in a tough environment. "They'll be hoping that that competition might diminish a bit now because dairy prices, cheese prices have gone up quite a lot."
It would not translate directly in sales, but high dairy prices might hit its lower-priced competitors harder.
"That may slow down the extent of the competition and I think there's been a bit of a pull-back in advertising by competitors against Pizza Hut."
The company's shares closed up 1c to 83c yesterday.
RESTAURANT BRANDS
* Fourth quarter same-store sales
* KFC: $46.3 million - up 4.9 per cent
* Pizza Hut $14.8 million - down 8.2 per cent
* Starbucks $7.9 million - up 6.4 per cent
