KFC and Pizza Hut India operator Sapphire Foods' slips into loss of Rs 1.73 crore in Q1

Mumbai, July 23 (IANS) Sapphire Foods India, the operator of popular fast-food chains like KFC and Pizza Hut, on Wednesday reported a net loss of Rs 1.73 crore in the first quarter (Q1) of FY26, ending June 30.

This marks a sharp decline from a net profit of Rs 8.18 crore recorded during the same period of the previous year (Q1 FY25), according to its stock exchange filing.

However, the company managed to grow its revenue from operations by 8.16 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 776.8 crore.

Similarly, total income also rose by 8.31 per cent to Rs 783.6 crore, compared to Rs 723.5 crore in Q1 FY25.

However, total expenses jumped by 10.4 per cent to Rs 785.4 crore, up from Rs 711.7 crore in the year-ago period.

Fast-food players like KFC and Pizza Hut have been facing increasing pressure in India as consumers cut back on discretionary spending due to the high cost of living.

To counter this, brands have launched aggressive discount campaigns. KFC promoted its "epic savers" deal, offering nine pieces of fried chicken for Rs 299, while Pizza Hut bundled free Pepsi with select pizzas.

Despite these efforts, Sapphire Foods saw flat same-store sales at KFC and an 8 per cent decline at Pizza Hut in India.

The promotions, while popular, were not enough to significantly boost footfall or sales growth.

On the brighter side, the company continued to expand its footprint by opening dozens of new outlets over the past year, as per the filing.

This helped push revenue growth, even though core performance metrics like profitability and same-store sales remained under pressure.

Sapphire Foods is one of the two franchisees of Yum Brands in India and operates hundreds of Pizza Hut and KFC outlets across the country.

--IANS

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