Business

Restaurant Brands hits record profits from KFC sales

12:53 pm on 20 April 2017

The listed fast food operator, Restaurant Brands, has posted another record full-year profit with strong group sales, primarily because of its KFC business in New Zealand and Australia.

KFC on Massey Rd in Mangere East Photo: RNZ / Joanna MacKenzie

The group's net profit rose 7.8 percent to $26 million in the year ended in February, or to $30.6 m - an increase of 26.3 percent - excluding one-time gains from the sale of some Pizza Hut stores and other costs.

The company said its New Zealand operations, which also include Pizza Hut, Starbucks and Carl's Jr, delivered their best ever overall sales and profit, contributing $400 million of total sales which rose 28.3 percent to $497.2m

The acquisition of 42 KFC stores in Australia in April added $97.2m to total sales with an underlying profit of $15m for the 10-month period.

Restaurant Brands also bought the Taco Bell and Pizza Hut franchisesin Hawaii during the past year, but the settlement was not completed until after balance date.

The company said it was seeing a continuation of the strong trading performance across all four New Zealand brands in the new financial year, and the Australia and Hawaii operations were delivering results in line with expectations.

The company was expecting to make a net profit of about $40m in the current year.