A decade after it brought Domino’s Pizza to India and later launched Dunkin’ Donuts in the domestic market, Jubilant Foodworks Ltd. is now working on introducing its own brand, Ajay Kaul, chief executive officer of the company said in a conference call with analysts on Tuesday after the April - June quarter results.
Kaul added that plans of an in-house brand are currently at a nascent stage and consumers will be able to dig into its new offering only after a couple of quarters. However, Kaul did not elaborate on the kind of cuisine the company plans to offer.
The quick services restaurant (QSR) major said it is in continuous talks with global restaurants, but the hope of another tie-up with another global restaurant in the current financial year remains limited.
With Domino’s Pizza store additions at a 5-year low, the company is also toying with the idea of starting outlets which will include offerings from both its chains – Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts. It may also separately open kiosks which will serve coffee and other beverages.
Despite the closure of a few Dunkin’ Donuts stores, Kaul said that the company continues to remain upbeat on the performance of its donuts brand in the country and will open up new outlets going forward. Jubilant Foodworks is eyeing 130 new Domino’s Pizza stores and 7-8 new Dunkin’ Donuts stores by the end of the year. Domino’s Pizza currently has 1,062 stores across the country while Dunkin’ Donuts has 73 outlets.
Shares of Jubilant Foodworks ended 9.7 percent lower versus Friday’s close, at Rs 1,067.9 on the National Stock Exchange, as the company reported a 31 percent year on year fall in net profit to Rs 190 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year. Its revenue grew 6.6 percent to Rs 609 crore.
Despite an increase in revenue, Jubilant Foodworks same-store sales declined by 3.2 percent which resulted in negative volume growth.
However, the company is hopeful that the current quarter will see positive same-store sales growth as July-August already looks positive, Kaul said.
To keep expenses under check, the Noida-based company has started to reduce employee count at its stores by one or two employees and has also renegotiated rental rates at 15-20 Dunkin’ Donut outlets and some of Domino’s Pizza outlets, Kaul said in the conference call.
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