Priszm income fund Q2 profit rises to $5.5 million from year-ago $4.3M

TORONTO (CP) – Fast-food company Priszm Canadian Income Fund (TSX:QSR.UN), the operator of 484 KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Long John Silver’s restaurants in seven provinces, says its second-quarter profit rose to $5.5 million from a year-ago $4.3 million.

Earnings in the quarter ended June 12 amounted to 26.7 cents a unit, compared with 20.9 cents per unit a year earlier, the Toronto-based company said Wednesday.

Sales increased four per cent to $118.4 million, with KFC/Taco Bell multi-branded restaurants’ same-store sales growth of nine per cent. Western Canada led with 5.8 per cent growth, while Quebec’s 4.3 per cent sales growth topped national growth of 2.9 per cent.

„We have had an exceptional first half of 2006 and we look forward to our busy summer season,“ CEO John Bitove said in a release.

In the six-month period, income from restaurant operations totalled $21.5 million, a 19.1 per cent increase from a year ago.

„Priszm’s outstanding results reflect increased consumer acceptance of the quality and value proposition of Priszm’s four globally powerful brands and the effective control of labour, food and operational costs,“ Bitove said.

„As a result of excellent execution and outstanding marketing efforts, distributable cash is up, our payout ratio is lower and we are very proud of having made 32 consecutive distributions since the fund’s inception.“

Source: cbc.ca