Sphera Franchise Group sales grew by 24.6%, while the profit increased by 4.5% in 2018

Sphera Franchise Group reports consolidated sales amounting to RON 771 million for the year 2018, representing a 24.6% increase compared to the pro forma sales of the previous year.

The main drivers of this performance were the growth in sales of KFC restaurants, up 21.5% year-on-year, which contributed 16.8 percentage points to the pro forma sales growth rate, and the 9.5% advance of Pizza Hut restaurants sales compared to the previous year, which had a contribution of 1.7 percentage points to the proforma sales growth rate, as well as KFC Italy, with a contribution of 4.2 percentage points to the proforma sales growth rate.

Restaurant operating profit improved 4.5% year-on-year to RON 103.2 million, normalized EBITDA rose 4.5% to RON 72.4 million, while net profit grew 4.5% to RON 34.0 million.

In Q4-2018, consolidated sales increased by 27.8% compared to Q4-2017; the slight acceleration in sales growth compared to the 26.6% year-on-year increase in Q3-2018 was mainly due to the increased contribution coming from KFC Italy and Taco Bell operations as well as higher growth in KFC Romania sales.

Restaurant operating profit increased 18.7% year-on-year to RON 28.6 million in Q4-2018, normalized EBITDA improved 63.5% to RON 19.0 million, while net profit reached RON 1.6 million compared to a loss of RON 9.4 million in Q4-2017.