KFC continues strong growth

KFC has regularly been the cornerstone of Restaurant Brands' sales performance.

Restaurant Brands lifted third quarter sales 4.7 per cent to $72.9 million, led by strong growth from its KFC operation.

The current economic climate was still not adversely affecting overall positive sales growth, the company said today. The rise for the 12 weeks to December 7 followed increases in sales of 4.8 per cent and 4.3 per cent in the previous two quarters.

KFC, with 70 per cent of total company sales, lifted sales 7.4 per cent in the latest quarter to $51.4m, while on a same store basis, sales were up 10 per cent compared to a year earlier.

Two stores were closed for part of the quarter with KFC Blenheim and Waihi undergoing extensive refurbishment.

It was planned to have half the stores in the network transformed by the end of the year - with one further store scheduled for upgrading as part of the brand's continuing transformation programme, Restaurant Brands said.

For the year to date, KFC sales of $169.6m were up 7.2 per cent on a year earlier, with a year-to-date improvement of 9.2 per cent on a same store basis.

Store numbers remained stable at 84 during the quarter with one new store due to open in Greenlane, Auckland tomorrow.

At Pizza Hut, total sales of $14.6m were 0.1 per cent down in the third quarter from a year earlier, while same store sales were up 1.9 per cent.

For the year to date, total Pizza Hut sales of $49.9m were up 1.6 per cent on a year earlier, with a same store increase of 4.2 per cent.

The 92 Pizza Hut stores were two down on the equivalent quarter last year, with the programme to progressively close dine in restaurants continuing as leases expired or the opportunity to exit a store arose.

Starbucks Coffee quarterly sales fell 2.8 per cent to $7m, while on a same store basis they were down 0.6 per cent with one fewer store than the equivalent quarter last year.

The decline noted in the previous two quarters was slowing, the company said.

Softening in demand for coffee and food lines had eased during the quarter with the changes in pricing, product mix and promotional activity beginning to bear fruit.

For the year to date, total Starbucks sales of $23.1m were down 5.8 per cent on a year earlier and 2.9 per cent down on a same store basis.

Store numbers dropped by one to 41 during the quarter as the Palmerston North store closed due to lease related issues.

Restaurant Brands repeated its previously announced advice that it expected full year net profit after tax, excluding non-trading items, for the year to February 28 of around $17.5m - up $5.8m or 50 per cent on a year earlier.

- NZPA