Restaurant Brands reported a strong start to the financial year, underpinned by another stellar quarter at KFC, Forsyth Barr broker Suzanne Kinnaird said yesterday.
Commenting on the company's first-quarter sales, Ms Kinnaird said double-digit same-store sales growth at KFC continued a strong run over the past 18 months.
Carl's Jr remained the key underperformer for Restaurant Brands but Forsyth Barr expected improvements in the current financial year as the company opened more Carl's Jr stores.
Total sales for KFC in the quarter were $64.4 million, up 13.2% or $7.5 million, on the equivalent period last year.
Same-store sales were up 9.8%.
Company chief executive Russel Creedy said the strong sales continued to be driven by the store transformation programme, increased marketing spend and longer store opening hours.
Successful promotions in the quarter, along with the successful Super Bucket with a free rugby ball as part of the KFC New Zealand Super Rugby Teams' sponsorship, contributed to growth in the quarter.
Total sales for Pizza Hut were $105 million for the quarter, a fall of 7.6% on the previous corresponding period.
The result was due to having four fewer stores as the company continued its strategy of selling lower volume stores to independent franchisees, he said.
Starbucks Coffee quarterly sales were $6.1 million, up 6.6% despite having one less store.
Restaurant Brand shares reached an all-time high yesterday of $4.48 after a 12-month low of $2.70 in July last year.
Craigs Investment Partners broker Chris Timms said the company had experienced a ''fantastic run'' after increasing its dividend in March last year by more than 10%.
''This has all the hallmarks of a well-run company: increased sales, increased dividend and increased profit. We look behind those numbers to see whether that translates into more dollars on the bottom line, and they have.''
