Restaurant Brands fourth quarter sales rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier to $75.3 million, with the company saying the economic downturn and slow recovery had not adversely affected sales growth.Same store sales for the 12 weeks to March 1 were up 6.7
Restaurant Brands fourth quarter sales rose 5.3 percent from a year earlier to $75.3 million, with the company saying the economic downturn and slow recovery had not adversely affected sales growth.
Same store sales for the 12 weeks to March 1 were up 6.7 percent, with KFC and Pizza Hut recording same store sales growth, while Starbucks Coffee had another quarter with a small decline, the company said today.
The figures come out a day after Restaurant Brands said it expected full year net profit, excluding non trading items, for the year to February 28 to be around $19.5 million, up 67 percent on a year earlier.
Shares in the company rose as much as 21c during trading yesterday before ending up 16c at $1.98. By late morning today the share price had fallen 3c to $1.95.
Restaurant Brands said the 5.3 percent fourth quarter equivalent rise on the prior year outstripped the 4-5 percent growth achieved in the previous three quarters of this year.
Annual sales were $317.8m, a rise of 2.8 percent on the 53 week prior year, with KFC being the main driver of the total sales growth.
Annual total sales growth when compared to an equivalent 52 week prior year was up 4.8 percent, with KFC up 7.5 percent, Pizza Hut up 1.2 percent and Starbucks Coffee down 5.8 percent.
The company's 2008/09 financial year was based on a 13-week quarter and a 53-week year, while for the latest year the results were based on a 12-week quarter and 52-week year. Comparisons had therefore been restated to reflect the different lengths.
KFC contributed more than 70 percent of company revenues, with total store sales up 8.7 percent to $53.6m. Same store sales grew 9.4 percent.
Full year KFC sales of $223.2m was a new record for the brand, with sales up 7.5 percent on the equivalent 52-week period last year, with same store sales up 9.2 percent, Restaurant Brands said.
Store numbers rose by one to 85 during the quarter with the opening of a Greenlane store.
At Pizza Hut, sales for the latest quarter edged down 0.2 percent to $14.2m, but same store sales were up 2.6 percent.
It was the first time since the third quarter of the 2003/04 financial year that Pizza Hut had recorded four consecutive quarters of same store sales growth, the company said.
Full year Pizza Hut sales rose 3.9 percent on a same store basis to $64.2m, and with two less stores were still up 1.2 percent in total on the equivalent 52-week period last year.
Starbucks Coffee quarterly sales fell 5.6 percent to $7.4m with one less store, and were down on a same store basis by 3.1 percent.
Continuing work on pricing, product mix and promotional activity, together with better cost management, were improving profitability despite the sales decline, Restaurant Brands said.
Full year Starbucks sales were down 5.8 percent to $30.5m, with same store sales down 2.9 percent.
