(Reuters) – Restaurant Brands Asia, the India franchisee of Burger King, reported a wider third-quarter loss on Wednesday, weighed by high costs and inflation-hit customers cutting back on dining out.
The company reported a net loss of 504 million rupees ($5.82 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31, from a loss of 361.8 million rupees a year earlier.
Same-store sales at Indian Burger King restaurants slipped 0.5%, with the restaurant operator blaming “flat demand.”
Global fast-food chains, including Burger King and McDonald’s, have been doubling down on cheaper options over the last few quarters to attract India’s price-sensitive customers amid high inflation.
Burger King offered some of the cheapest deals in the industry in the country, including a bundle of two vegetarian burgers at 79 rupees and of two chicken burgers at 99 rupees.
This, along with opening more outlets, propped up the company’s revenue by 5.8% to 6.39 billion rupees.
Its total store count in India stood at 510, up 69 from last year and 46 from the previous quarter.
However, the company was also affected by high prices of ingredients, which led to an 8.5% increase in total expenses to 7.03 billion rupees.
Cafe chain Tata Starbucks and pizza group Papa John’s International, meanwhile, have said they are rethinking their India plans amid subdued consumer sentiment.
Earlier in the day, Restaurant Brands Asia’s rival Westlife Foodworld, the operator of McDonald’s in India, reported a 59% drop in quarterly profit.
Restaurant Brands International, which has Burger King restaurants in more than 100 countries, will report quarterly results on Feb. 12, according to its website.
($1 = 86.5340 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai and Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K)
