It said the first quarter of 2021 was the best quarter for the Group on the Romanian market since the onset of the pandemic in terms of restaurant sales, which stood at RON211.4 million, up 6.6% on the year and up 1.7% on a quarterly basis.
It said its EBITDA surged 306%, reaching RON12.7 million (6% margin, 4.4 percentage point increase compared with 1Q/2020), while normalized EBITDA reached RON13.1 million, an increase of 271%, and a 6.2% margin.
In terms of individual performance, KFC Romania and KFC Moldova closed the first quarter on profit, with an EBITDA of RON19.6 million and a net profit of RON13.9 million. Taco Bell Romania closed the first quarter with a restaurant operating profit of RON0.1 million, but a loss of RON1 million.
Pizza Hut Romania closed the first quarter with a net loss of RON3.7 million, and KFC Italy posted net loss of RON8 million significantly impacted by the COVID-19 evolution and the prevailing restrictions in Italy.
On a group level, Pizza Hut managed to record the highest turnover since 2Q/ 2020, lower its quarterly loss by 20.5% and post an improved annual performance driven also by the closure of selected non-performing Pizza Hut locations starting with 3Q/2020.
In the first quarter of 2021, Sphera managed to limit its expenses, which grew only 2.5% on the year, to RON195.6 million, as a result of continued cost control. Payroll and employee benefits decreased 6.1% on the year, to RON47.7 million, as a result of fewer working hours.
The group befitted from total technical unemployment indemnity of RON919,000 in the first quarter, of which RON840,000 from the Romanian government and RON79,000 from Italy. Sphera had a total of 4,787 employees on all three markets of activity at the end of the first quarter. During this time, approximately 4% of employees in Romania and 17% of employees in Italy were on furlough.
Also in the first quarter, the group opened two new KFC locations, one in Romania and one in Italy.