Sphera Franchise Group, the owner of the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchises in Romania, plans to open 26 new restaurants this year, double compared to previous years, local Ziarul Financiar reported.

The company operates 110 restaurants under these brands in Romania, including several KFC restaurants in Moldova Republic and Northern Italy.

Last year, the company’s business went up by 20%, to EUR 133 million. This year, the company aims for a 25% increase in sales.

“Traditionally, we have been opening 10-12 restaurants per year, but this year we will accelerate and go with 26 new units in total, namely 23 planned for 2018 and three units that couldn’t be opened last year because of the bureaucracy and permits not granted in due time,” said Sphera Franchise Group CEO Mark Hilton.

Last year, the company opened 16 new restaurants and closed one.

Sphera Franchise Group listed its shares on the Bucharest Stock Exchange last year. It currently has a market capitalization of EUR 230 million.

KFC franchise owner in Romania sees higher sales but lower profit

editor@romania-insider.com