The exercise is called the Happy Meal Readers program, under which children will be given books to read along with the Happy Meals, the channel said. McDonald’s said British author Cressida Cowell’s series of children’s books had been written for the restaurant chain, two of which will be introduced each month.
Westlife Development, which owns Hardcastle Restaurants – the master franchisee of McDonald’s restaurants for the West and South regions – announced last week a consolidated net profit of Rs 20.8 crore for the quarter ended December 2021 and an increase of 46.6 % of sales in the quarter at Rs 476.83 crore, which he attributed to growth in the foodservice and convenience channels. The chain reported comparable store sales growth of 44% for the quarter, adding eight new stores. It said it had a total store count of 316 restaurants at the end of the fiscal third quarter.
“Consistent cost optimization and mix advantages have supported operating profit in a highly inflationary environment. We believe Westlife’s accelerated delivery adoption is driving higher base demand as situation has started to normalize,” Manoj Menon, an analyst at ICICI Securities, wrote in a report.
Westlife Development said in a post-earnings management comment that it plans to accelerate expansion to 40 stores next year after this year’s target of 25 to 30 stores.
“Key downside risks include continued weakness in consumer sentiment impacting restaurant throughput and likely higher competitive intensity in the near term,” the ICICI Securities report added.
