November 13 (SeeNews) - Sphera Franchise Group [BSE:SFG], the manager of KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands in Romania, said on Wednesday that its consolidated net profit fell by an annual 1.8% to 31.8 million lei ($7.4 million/6.7 million euro) in the first nine months of the year.
Restaurant expenses outpaced the rise in sales, growing by 26.8% year-on-year to 604.8 million lei, as depreciation and amortisation costs jumped to 52.1 million lei from 14.7 million lei the year before, figures from the company's interim financial statement showed.
The higher depreciation and amortisation costs were partially offset by rent expenses, which fell 59.9% to 16.1 million lei.
Restaurant sales rose 25.9% to 694.3 million lei, backed by the company's Italian KFC restaurants business, which posted a massive 222% growth in nine-month sales, to 69 million lei. Revenue from Taco Bell restaurant operations in Romania also grew sharply - by 183.6% to 22.8 million lei.
The company booked most of its revenue from KFC restaurants in Romania - 497.8 million lei, up by an annual 17.1%.
Sphera Franchise Group also increased its net general administrative expenses by an annual 12.3% to 42.3 million lei in the January-September period of 2019.
The company reported a sharp increase in financial expenses, to 12.9 million lei in the review period, from 2.1 million lei the year before.
Shares of Sphera Franchise Group started trading on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) in November 2017, following a 285 million lei IPO. The company became the first food service operator listed on the exchange.
As at 9:30 CET on Wednesday, Sphera Franchise Group shares traded 0.98% lower at 20.3 lei.
(1 euro = 4.76 lei)