McDonald's India operator Westlife quarterly loss narrows as promotions attract customers
Oct 23 (Reuters) - Westlife Foodworld WEST.NS, which operates some McDonald's MCD.N restaurants in India, posted a narrower quarterly loss on Friday, as discounted meals and limited-edition collectibles attracted consumers even as expenses soared.
The franchisee said loss before tax and exceptional items stood at 26.95 million rupees ($283,900.87) for the quarter ended September 30 against a loss of 158.5 million rupees a year earlier.
Shares of the company rose 3% to 547.8 rupees in afternoon trading on Friday.
During the reporting quarter, McDonald's offered meals starting at 99 rupees, delivery discounts, 50% off on select combos for a few days and limited-edition Spider-Man merchandise to attract customers.
Westlife's revenue from operations rose over 16% to 7.42 billion rupees from 6.38 billion last year.
However, the cost of materials surged nearly 37% to 2.42 billion during the same period.
Restaurants have seen costs of everything from raw materials and energy rising since the onset of the Middle East war, while sustained spending to fend off competition from local restaurant chains such as California Burrito and Wow Momo, and other independent restaurants weighed on margins.
($1 = 94.9275 Indian rupees)