New Zealand’s Restaurant Brands sees sales exceed $1bn

Its California business played a significant role in the company’s performance.

New Zealand fast food company Restaurant Brands saw total sales for the year ended 31 December 2021 at $1.06 billion, an $175.9 million increase of $175.9 million (19.7%) from 2020 primarily due to the performance of its KFC stores in California.

The fourth quarter of their financial year saw total sales at $284 million, 5.5% more than the equivalent period last year.

Company-owned stores were up by 11 from last year to 359, primarily from the acquisition of five KFC stores in Sydney earlier in the year and the ongoing builds of new Taco Bell stores in Australia and New Zealand.

Full year sales for New Zealand rose 12.4% to $461.1 million, primarily from same store sales growth of 9.1%. It estimates that government-mandated full store closures resulted in $26 million in lost sales in 2021 and $40 million in 2020.

In Australia, full year sales increased 13.6% to $A230 million ($NZ244.1 million) whilst fourth quarter sales were at $A62.2 million ($NZ65.5 million), an increase of 12.9%.

Its Hawaii business saw full year sales in Hawaii at $US146.3 million and fourth quarter sales at $US36.6 million ($NZ52.7 million). California performed above expectations at acquisition, reporting US$110.3 million ($NZ156.5 million) in full year sales and $US27.4 million ($NZ39.5 million) in the fourth quarter.

The company said it will release its annual trading results for the year ended 31 December 2021 on 28 February.