Has The Demand Slowdown Hit India’s Fast Food Industry?
The company’s same-store growth hit an eight-quarter low of 5.7 percent in the January-March period.
Are Indians eating fewer burgers and fries? It's too early to call, according to the operator of McDonald’s outlets in the west and south India.
India’s consumption engine is sputtering as the cash crunch caused by the crisis in the non-bank financial companies has curbed spending even on staples after hurting demand for cars and homes.
Westlife’s same-store growth hit an eight-quarter low of 5.7 percent in the January-March period. Vice Chairman Amit Jatia said the metric wasn’t comparable with that in the previous quarters due to the compounding effect that resulted in a higher base.
“Whether that’s going to continue in the next quarter is to be seen,” he told BloombergQuint in an interview.
Key Earnings Highlights (Standalone, YoY)
- Revenue up 12.1 percent to Rs 339.1 crore.
- Net profit rose 7.6 percent to Rs 7.1 crore.
- Ebitda increased 35.5 percent to 24.8 crore.
- Ebitda margin expanded 130 basis points to 7.3 percent.
The shares of the company gained as much as 2.4 percent intraday to Rs 357.50 apiece.