Credit: REUTERS/BENOIT TESSIERAdds details from press release, background
Oct 27 (Reuters) - Burger King parent Restaurant Brands International Inc QSR.TO, QSR.N on Tuesday reported a 27.8% slump in quarterly profit, as stay-at-home orders kept diners away and investments in safety equipment and delivery orders increased.
Several restaurant chains across the globe have spent heavily on modernizing stores, wages and sanitizing, taking precautions to ensure safety and hygiene during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Operating costs and expenses in the third quarter rose about 4% to $920 million, Restaurant Brands said on Tuesday.
Total revenue fell 8.3% to $1.34 billion, meeting analyst expectations, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
Comparable sales at Popeyes, the popular fried chicken sandwich chain that gathered a huge social media audience and long lines at stores last year, rose 17.4%.
The company said it would modernize drive-thru at more than 10,000 Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes locations in North America, beginning the rollout with the chicken sandwich chain later this year.
At Burger King, comparable sales fell 7% and slumped 12.5% at Tim Hortons, as fewer people bought their morning cups of coffee at cafes amid the work-from-home orders.
Net income attributable to the company's shareholders came in at $145 million, or 47 cents per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, from $201 million, or 75 cents per share, last year.
(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru, Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
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