BENGALURU (Reuters) – Restaurant Brands Asia, which operates Burger King and Popeyes chains in India and Indonesia, reported a narrower first-quarter loss on Monday as offers and discounts brought more customers to its outlets.
The company’s consolidated net loss narrowed to 493.6 million rupees ($5.90 million) in the three months ended June 30 from a loss of 504.8 million rupees a year earlier.
However, this is the company’s fifteenth consecutive quarterly loss.
With growing competition in the quick service restaurant industry, Burger King India introduced “Tasty Meals” starting at 99 rupees to boost dine-in traffic.
The company, which runs quick service chains owned by Restaurant Brands International, said prices of ingredients rose 5%.
India’s quick-service restaurant (QSR) brands provided discounts and budget-friendly meals to draw in customers during a quarter that featured the T20 Cricket World Cup and a school holiday period.
Revenue increased about 6% during the quarter, helped by higher footfall due to offers like the “Tasty Meals”.
Rival fast food chain McDonald’s India franchisee Westlife Foodworld reported a plunge in first-quarter profit amid frail demand and higher expenses.
Other rivals such as KFC-operator Devyani International, Pizza Hut-operator Sapphire Foods, and Domino’s India-franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks are yet to report results.
Shares of Restaurant Brands Asia closed 1.4% higher ahead of quarterly results.
($1 = 83.6970 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Ashna Teresa Britto and Dimpal Gulwani in Bengaluru;Editing by Varun H K)
