Sphera Franchise Group, which holds the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchises in Romania, reached consolidated pro-forma sales of RON 771 million (EUR 165 million) in 2018, up by a quarter (24.6%) over 2017, according to an announcement issued Tuesday, February 26.

The main growth drivers were higher sales in KFC restaurants: up 21.5% from 2017, which contributed 16.8 percentage points (pp) to the overall 24.6% y/y sales growth rate. Pizza Hut’s sales rose by 9.5% adding 1.7pp to the sales growth rate, and the sales of KFC Italy contributed a 4.2pp to the overall sales’ growth.

The operating profit in restaurants increased by 4.5% compared to the previous year, reaching RON 103.2 million (EUR 22.2 million), the normalized earnings before interest depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) increased by 4.5% to RON 72.4 million (EUR 15.6 million), and the net profit increased by 4.5% to RON 34 million (EUR 7.3 million).

“Last year we opened 25 new restaurants, 16 of which were KFC units in Romania and Italy,” said Mark Hilton, CEO of Sphera Franchise Group.

editor@romania-insider.com