BENGALURU/CHENNAI, May 17 (Reuters) – India’s Devyani International Ltd (DEVY.NS) on Wednesday reported a 21% droop in fourth-quarter revenue because the KFC restaurant operator noticed a soar in bills and inflation-hit customers in the reduction of spending on quick meals.

Consolidated web revenue fell to 607.2 million rupees ($7.4 million) for the quarter ended March 31, the native franchisee of U.S.-based Yum Brands (YUM.N) stated in an alternate submitting.

Consumers on the planet’s most populous nation have been slammed by excessive costs of day by day necessities from milk to gas over the previous few quarters, forcing them to maintain a good lid on discretionary spending.

Meanwhile, its Pizza Hut shops are going through intense competitors from native manufacturers providing cheaper choices and Domino’s Pizza (DPZ.N), operated by Jubilant Foodworks (JUBI.NS) in India.

Devyani, which can be the only real franchisee for the Costa Coffee model in India, stated whole bills jumped 32% from a 12 months earlier.

Revenue from operations surged 28% to 7.55 billion rupees because it opened 66 new shops. However, income slipped round 5% from the earlier quarter.

The revenue droop at Devyani is in keeping with the efficiency of rival Yum Brands franchisee Sapphire Foods India Ltd (SAPI.NS) and Westlife FoodWorld Ltd (WEST.NS), the native operator of McDonald’s (MCD.N), each underscoring the bills and demand slowdown.

However, Devyani is hopeful of “a rebound in consumer spending in the second half of the coming fiscal,” Non-Executive Chairman Ravi Jaipuria stated, pointing to the “initial signs of inflation stabilizing.”

Shares of Devyani fell as a lot as 8.6% after the earnings. They had been final down 4.8% at 173.3 rupees.

($1 = 81.7800 Indian rupees)

Reporting by Yagnoseni Das in Bengaluru and Praveen Paramasivam in Chennai; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil

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