NEW DELHI: In its first quarterly earnings announcement, global fast food chain Burger King’s India operations reported a net loss of Rs 29.02 crore for the quarter ended December as against a net loss of Rs 21.72 crore in the year-ago quarter.

The company’s revenues in the quarter declined 28.4 per cent on-year to Rs 163.19 crore. However, on a sequential basis, its topline showed growth of 69 per cent.

Revenues recovered to 72 per cent of the level they were at in the same quarter year-ago, suggesting that the quick-service restaurant operator is still reeling from the impact of the Covid2019 pandemic.

Restaurant EBITDA tumbled 26.1 per cent to Rs 14.37 crore in Q3 FY21 over Q3 FY20. Restaurant EBITDA margin stood at 8.8 per cent in Q3 FY21 as against 8.5 per cent in Q3 FY20.

Burger King opened nine new stores in Q3 FY21 while the total store count as of 31 December 2020 stood at 270 stores. Same-store sales, a key metric in judging the revenue performance of each store, declined 34.8 per cent in the quarter, but recovered sequentially from a decline of 48.6 per cent.

Operating profit in the quarter declined 94.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 25 lakh. The company’s operating margin stood at 0.2 per cent at the end of the quarter as against 2.1 per cent a year ago.

Burger King set shop in India in November 2014 and has been among the fastest expanding quick service restaurant chains in the country. Its shares were listed on the stock exchanges on 14 December 2020 at Rs 115.35, a premium of 92.25 per cent to the initial public offer (IPO) price of Rs 60.