JUBILANT FOODWORKS’ Q3 PROFIT UP 22%

NEW DELHI: Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd, the operator of the Domino’s Pizza and Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in India, reported a 22% rise in quarterly profit because of a surge in delivery and takeaway sales.

Net profit rose to ₹123.91 crore in the three months ended December 31 from ₹101.80 crore in the year earlier, the company said on Wednesday.

Consolidated revenue from operations, however, fell marginally to ₹1,069.27 crore from ₹1,071 crore due to seating-capacity restrictions in restaurants. Domino’s witnessed complete sales recovery during the fiscal third quarter backed by continued momentum in delivery and takeaway channels, which grew by 18.5% and 64.3%, respectively, from the year-ago period, the company said. The sales recovery continued in January with overall sales for Domino’s growing by 6%. The company witnessed its highest-ever app downloads during the quarter at 7.4 million.

“We turned the corner decidedly in the third quarter, with Domino’s returning to growth, driven by strong momentum in delivery and takeaway channels,” said Pratik Pota, chief executive of Jubilant FoodWorks. Formats such as delivery and takeaway grew ahead of the dine-in business. For the December quarter, sales recovery for the dine-in business stood at 41.6% of that in the year-ago period. For January, it was 56%. Recovery in dine-in business remains slow because of restrictions on seating capacity in restaurants.

The promoters of HT Media Ltd, which publishes Mint, and Jubilant FoodWorks are closely related. There are, however, no promoter cross-holdings.