Jubilant Foodworks Q3 net down 9% at Rs 31.74 crore

Jubilant Foodworks Ltd today reported a 9.34 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 31.74 crore for the third quarter ended December 31, 2015 due to higher expenses, including employee benefits.
The company had posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 35.01 crore in the same quarter last fiscal, it said in a BSE filing.
Net sales during the period under review stood at Rs 633.76 crore as against Rs 554.26 crore in the corresponding period last fiscal, it said.
Total expenses of the company during the quarter were higher at Rs 589.59 crore as against Rs 507.05 crore in the year-ago period. Employee benefits expenses were at Rs 150.87 crore as compared to Rs 115.26 crore in the same period last fiscal.

Commenting on the results, Jubilant FoodWorks Ltd CEO Ajay Kaul said: "Although we have faced challenges in recent months, I am pleased with our efforts to expand our brand presence and continue with the investments which we believe will eventually help us unlock great value once the tide turns in our favour."
In the third quarter, the company had opened 40 new Domino's Pizza and four Dunkin' Donuts restaurants.

"Our Domino's network as we speak stand at 1,004 restaurants spread across 230 cities while Dunkin' has a total count of 70 outlets across 24 cities," Kaul said.
During the quarter, Domino's Pizza had entered new cities, including Itanagar in Arunachal Pradesh, Raigarh in Chattisgarh, Dibrugarh in Assam, Chittorgarh and Bikaner in Rajasthan, among others.

Shares of Jubilant Foodworks Ltd ended at Rs 1,062.95 apiece, down 10.64 per cent from the previous close on BSE.