In an operations update released on 21 February, Collins Foods Limited announced its KFC outlets’ same store sales growth was 1.7 percent in the third quarter. 

Sales were particularly high in November and December last year, however they declined slightly in January and early February.

The figure represents an increase of 0.4 percent on the first half of the 2014 financial year, where same store sales growth was 1.3 percent.

“We continue to extract margin improvement through a range of operational and efficiency initiatives that we have introduced in our KFC and Sizzler restaurants,” said Collins’ managing director and CEO, Kevin Perkins.

“Our poultry contracts for the next 12 months have been re-negotiated at prices that are broadly in line with the current year,” he added.

Perkins said the company predicts its FY14 earnings will match the estimated figure of $17.3 million normalised NPAT.

Collins Foods Limited, which currently operates all KFC and Sizzler outlets in Queensland, expects its acquisition of Competitive Foods’ KFC sites will be completed by early March.

“We look forward to integrating the Competitive Foods’ West Australia and Northern Territory KFC restaurants into our portfolio, and leveraging the growth opportunities that this acquisition represents,” said Perkins.