Restaurant Brands same store sales up

Restaurant Brands said today that same store sales in the May quarter rose 0.4 per cent across its three brands, KFC, Starbucks and Pizza Hut.

Total sales fell 0.9 per cent on a year ago with Pizza Hut suffering a 13 per cent fall in total sales and a 7 per cent fall on same store sales.

It said a combination of a slower market and the timing of the strong Easter holiday and school holiday period were largely responsible.

Total sales for the 12 weeks to May 19 were $69.8 million. It said KFC and Starbucks sales grew, but Pizza Hut fell.

Shares in Restaurant Brands closed yesterday on 86 cents.

The company said sales had been affected by the overall contraction in retail spending during the quarter.

KFC sales, which comprise two thirds of the group total, grew by 3.4 per cent over the prior year as the brand continued to benefit from its transformation of stores.

The company said store transformations and special promotions had aided the KFC result.

Starbucks Coffee also showed growth in total sales over prior year of 1.4 per cent, despite a reduced number of stores.

It said Pizza Hut sales continued to disappoint although a significant part of the decline was because of reduced store numbers which at 96 were seven down on the prior year.

Starbucks had the 18th consecutive quarter of sales growth, increasing 1.4 per cent on the prior year to $7.7m, despite a reduced number of stores. Same store growth was 6.7 per cent.

- NZPA