KFC boosts Restaurant Brands sales

Greater menu options and a more targeted marketing approach have helped Restaurant Brands. Photo / Supplied

Restaurant Brands lifted first-quarter sales 4.2 per cent from a year earlier, as KFC, which accounts for 72 per cent of the company's revenue, continued to grow while Starbucks Coffee and Pizza Hut sales slipped.

Chief executive Russel Creedy said overall sales trends were continuing as the company moves into the traditionally quieter winter sales period.

Total sales across the company's three brands for the three months to May 24 were $75.9 million, an increase of 4.2 per cent on the equivalent period last year. Same-store sales increased 6.3 per cent.

At KFC, sales rose $4.3 million for the quarter to $54.3 million, an 8.5 per cent increase on the previous year and 10.7 per cent on a same-store-sales basis.

Factors which helped to maintain sales momentum included an ongoing transformation programme, with consistency in store operations, wider menu options and a more focused approach to marketing.

Creedy said that during the next two to three years KFC would expand the range of drinks available, including coffee, after the successful introduction of Krushers.

At Pizza Hut, total sales were down 5.6 per cent on the previous year to $14.6 million, with same-store sales down 4.1 per cent.

"We're not chasing sales at any price at Pizza Hut," Creedy said.

Starbucks Coffee quarterly sales fell 4.7 per cent to $6.9 million, down 1.8 per cent on a same-store-sales basis.

The sales decline had slowed and was expected to revert to same-store-sales growth with new promotions and customer offers.

The company was not banking on any sales boost from sports fans stuck on the couch over winter.

It learned from the 2007 Rugby World Cup it could not expect any significant bounce from the soccer World Cup, given the time games would screen, Creedy said.

"Some marketing people of the day believed they could throw some money at it and quite frankly it was a bit of a disaster."