Brands
Sapphire Foods posts 7 per cent Q3 revenue growth as KFC offsets Pizza Hut dip
Sales reach Rs 8,112 mn; KFC revenue up 11 per cent while Pizza Hut declines 11 per cent in India
MUMBAI: Sapphire Foods India, the Yum! Brands franchisee that runs KFC and Pizza Hut outlets across India and Sri Lanka, reported a quarter where the chicken sizzled and the pizza cooled. The company posted revenue of Rs 8,112 million in the third quarter of FY26, up 7 per cent year-on-year, but profits told a more complicated story as costs and a sluggish Pizza Hut business took a bite out of the bottom line.
The headline act was KFC. Revenue from the fried-chicken chain rose 11 per cent during the quarter, and restaurant-level Ebitda climbed to a healthy 18.8 per cent, up 60 basis points year-on-year. Same-store sales growth (SSSG) in KFC stood at 1 per cent, helped in part by the Navratri period.
That performance came after the company quietly ditched a pricier value play. Its Rs 299 “Epic Saver” offer failed to bring in the crowds, prompting a pivot to a more aggressive Rs 99 Krisper Chicken Burger Meal. The new offer, rolled out across roughly a quarter of stores from mid-December, has shown encouraging results over a seven-week pilot. A mass-media campaign launched in late January is now aimed at turning that early traction into higher footfall.
Pizza Hut, however, delivered a colder slice. India revenue for the brand fell 11 per cent during the quarter, with same-store sales dropping 12 per cent. Restaurant Ebitda slipped into the red at negative 3.1 per cent, a sharp 780-basis-point fall year-on-year.
The only bright spot for the pizza business came from Tamil Nadu, where the brand continued to clock double-digit outperformance in both same-store sales and restaurant Ebitda compared with the rest of the country.
Overall profitability reflected the mixed bag. Consolidated restaurant Ebitda grew 5 per cent year-on-year, with margins at 15 per cent. But adjusted Ebitda slipped 5 per cent to Rs 774 million, while overall Ebitda of Rs 1,360 million was down 3 per cent year-on-year, with margins contracting by 170 basis points to 16.8 per cent.
Profit before tax before exceptional items stood at Rs 78 million, or a thin 1 per cent margin. After factoring in exceptional costs, the company posted a loss before tax of Rs 34 million. The one-off charges included Rs 80 million linked to labour code changes and Rs 31 million tied to merger-related costs.
On the expansion front, Sapphire added 31 restaurants during the quarter, including 27 KFC outlets, one Pizza Hut in India, and three Pizza Huts in Sri Lanka, taking the total store count to 1,028 as of 31 December 2025.
The Sri Lanka business remained the quiet overachiever. Revenue there grew 15 per cent in local currency terms, with same-store sales up 11 per cent. Restaurant Ebitda stood at 16.7 per cent, though margins were slightly dented by higher minimum wages and cyclone-related costs.
Behind the scenes, the company is leaning on value deals, digital ordering and expansion to keep growth cooking. More than 70 per cent of KFC outlets now feature digital kiosks, and the brand’s app ecosystem has crossed 63 million downloads with 2.1 million monthly active users.
If the quarter proved anything, it is that in the quick-service kitchen, the right price point can be the difference between a full tray and a cold counter. For Sapphire, the chicken is back on the boil, but the pizza still needs reheating.
Brands
MS Dhoni joins Cars24’s Crashfree India as Goodwill Ambassador
Cricketing legend lends his voice to the fight against road fatalities in India.
MUMBAI: MS Dhoni has traded his cricket whites for a new kind of captaincy, one that aims to save lives on India’s roads. The former India captain has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Crashfree India, Cars24’s national road safety initiative. The move brings one of the country’s most trusted and disciplined public figures to a cause that desperately needs both credibility and urgency.
India continues to record the highest number of traffic fatalities globally. In 2024 alone, 1,80,000 people lost their lives on Indian roads, one every three minutes. The country has roughly 1% of the world’s vehicles but accounts for 11 per cent of global road deaths. Shockingly, 66 per cent of those killed were between 18 and 34 years old, the most productive age group, and nearly 10,000 were school students. Seven in ten fatalities were linked to overspeeding.
Dhoni, known for his calm judgment under pressure, did not mince words when speaking about the issue. “A vehicle gives you freedom, but it also gives you responsibility,” he said. “On our roads, too many people still see safety as a rule to follow only when someone is watching. That mindset has cost us far too much.”
He added: “We already know what is going wrong. We know how many lives are being lost. What we need now is not more excuses. We need more responsibility, more discipline, and more respect for life.”
For Cars24, the association goes beyond a celebrity endorsement. Founder and CEO Vikram Chopra described Dhoni’s involvement as a game-changer: “His understanding of Indian roads is grounded in lived experience. He holds us to a higher standard and his involvement challenges us to push this mission further.”
Crashfree India aims to shift the national conversation on road safety from reaction to prevention, from accepting deaths as routine to treating them as the urgent failure they are. With Dhoni on board, the initiative gains a powerful, trusted voice that transcends statistics and connects directly with millions of Indians.
In a country where dangerous driving is too often mistaken for confidence, Dhoni’s message is refreshingly clear: true strength lies in control, discipline, and respect for life. When one of India’s most respected captains decides to lead this fight, the conversation suddenly becomes much harder to ignore.
The roads just got a new captain. And this time, the goal is not to win a trophy but to save lives.
