NEW DELHI: Fast food company Yum! Brands, Inc on Wednesday said system sales for its KFC and Pizza Hut brands in India grew 26% and 11% respectively for the quarter ended March 31, the company said in its annual earnings release.
This is the tenth consecutive quarter of positive system sales growth for both brands in India.
Yum! measures growth through system sales, a metric similar to same-store growth, which is determined by sales at outlets that have been open for at least a year.
“The quarter ending March 2019 marks the tenth consecutive quarter of positive system sales growth, with a 26% system sales growth for (KFC) India and area countries. This continued momentum attests to our three pronged strategy on building our core business through exciting innovation like KFC Double Down, strengthening affordability across the menu categories and expanding access through new store openings and delivery,” Samir Menon, Managing Director, KFC India said in a media statement. Menon added that the burger chain’s association with food aggregators over the last few months have also helped the restaurant chain reach more consumers.
In India, Yum! operates via two franchise partners namely RJ Corp-owned Devyani International and Sapphire Foods. Sapphire Foods was formed by a consortium of funds led by Samara Capital, which bought part of Yum! Brands’ franchise business in India in 2016 for an estimated ₹750 crore. Between the two they operate over 800 restaurants.
Sapphire operates over 250 outlets of Pizza Hut and KFC in India and Sri Lanka, while Devyani International manages a bulk of KFC, along with Pizza Hut among other restaurants.
The company’s third brand Taco Bell that has 35 restaurants in India “maintained momentum with positive same store sales driven by the launch of their big bell box launch,” the company said over an earnings call on Wednesday.
Globally, worldwide system sales for YUM! grew 8%; with KFC at 9%, Taco Bell at 7%, and Pizza Hut at 7%. During the quarter the company opened 310 outlets. Total revenue for the quarter were down 9% to $1.25 billion. In all Yum! has over 48,000 restaurants in over 140 countries.
