Telepizza, the Spanish fast food chain, has posted net profits of €10.3 million in the first nine months of the year, down 24.9 per cent as a result of both store closures and higher taxes.
These two factors contributed to exceptional costs of €5.93 million, taking a hefty bite out of the group's nine-month profits.
Not surprisingly given the reduction in the number of stores, Telepizza's sales were also down during the period, dropping 12.9 per cent to €212.6 million. The company has effectively closed all the stores it owned itself, transferring all its operations to franchised outlets. It also closed its units in the UK and Morocco.
Sales in the domestic market, from both wholly-owned and franchised stores, rose by just 0.7 per cent to €213.36 million, while operating profits were €223.97 million.
After a troubled period, Telepizza seems to be starting back on the road to the recovery, despite the decline in profits. It still has a number of foreign operations (in Chile, France, Mexico, Poland and Portugal) and while the fast food market in general remains extremely competitive, analysts are once again beginning to take notice of the company. But there is still plenty of hard work before Telepizza is completely out of the woods.