Domino's India franchisee posts Q4 profit rise on one-time gain, store expansion
By Navamya Ganesh Acharya
BENGALURU (Reuters) -Jubilant FoodWorks reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit on Wednesday as the Domino's Pizza franchisee benefited from a one-time gain and more stores openings.
It reported profit before tax of 2.25 billion rupees ($27 million) for the quarter ended March 31, which included a one-time gain of 1.70 billion rupees from revaluing its investment in DP Eurasia N.V. when it acquired more shares.
Last year, it had reported a profit of 534 million rupees.
Jubilant also said it opened 67 new Domino's stores during the quarter, bringing the total store count to 1,995, helping its overall revenue rise nearly 24% to 15.73 billion rupees.
Like-for-like sales - sales at stores which were open for at least a year - edged up 0.1%, snapping four consecutive quarters of declines.
However, despite cooling inflation concerns, its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) margin decreased year-on-year to 19.7%, which Karan Taurani, a consumer analyst at Elara Capital, called a "negative" sign.
The pizza category in India continued to remain under pressure due to investments in promotions, value meals, and the dominance of online delivery in an increasingly competitive pizza market, Taurani said.
Jubilant's total expenses rose 28.2% to 15.45 billion rupees.
Global fast-food restaurants have struggled to entice customers over the last few quarters in India amid stubbornly high inflation and increased competition from local rivals.
Rival Westlife Foodworld reported a 96% decline in its profit as inflation-weary consumers cut back spending.
Shares of Jubilant closed 0.06% higher on Wednesday.
($1 = 83.2630 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Navamya Ganesh Acharya in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Varun H K)
