KFC franchise owner in Romania sees higher sales but lower profit in H1

Sphera Franchise Group, the company that owns the KFC, Pizza Hut, Pizza Hut Delivery and Taco Bell restaurant franchises in Romania, recorded consolidated sales of RON 350 million (EUR 75 million) in the first half of this year, up by 21.6% compared to pro-forma results in the same period of 2017. The company’s like-for-like (lfl) sales, which reflect the evolution of the restaurants that were running in the first half of 2017, went up by 8%. Sales were also boosted by the 26 new units opened since the beginning of 2017. The KFC franchise recorded 19.8% higher sales in the first half while the Pizza Hut business increased by 9.1%. Sphera’s operational profit EBITDA went down by 15.9% year-on-year in the first half, to RON 32.3 million (EUR 6.9 million) due to the accelerated pace of new openings. The company focused on opening new Taco Bell units in Romania and KFC units in Northern Italy. KFC, Pizza Hut franchise owner in Romania accelerates development plans editor@romania-insider.com