Burger King Sales Are Higher Than That Of Starbucks in FY18

Restaurant Brands International (RBI), which owns Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeyes, and Firehouse Subs, is planning to accelerate global unit growth despite recent challenges, particularly in China—its second-largest restaurant market.

While Burger King has regained some stability in the U.S. following the closure of hundreds of underperforming outlets, the brand continues to face significant hurdles in China. “The big variance is China,” said Patrick Doyle, Executive Chairman of RBI, during the Deutsche Bank Access Global Consumer Conference. “We had a number of years, five years in a row, where we had 300-plus in China. We need to get back to that.”

RBI has set a target of achieving 5 percent annual unit growth by 2028. To meet this goal, the company plans to leverage expansion opportunities across all its brands.

Tim Hortons, RBI’s dominant chain in Canada, is being positioned for renewed domestic growth despite its current store count being around 200 lower than in 2019. “We actually think we can penetrate more deeply in areas of Canada where we are underpenetrated,” said Doyle. The company views this market as integral to achieving net growth of 400 new locations in North America.

Popeyes and Firehouse Subs are expected to contribute significantly to this North American growth. Popeyes has added an average of 134 outlets annually in the U.S. over the past five years, while Firehouse added nearly 100 domestic outlets last year, with expectations for increased expansion under RBI, which acquired the brand in 2021.

However, Burger King remains a critical variable. The chain closed 77 locations in the U.S. last year and approximately 400 over the past three years, largely due to financial issues among franchisees and weak performance. Despite the contraction, Burger King has accounted for 90 percent of RBI’s total unit growth since 2019. “At some point we’ll get back to growth,” Doyle said. “But right now just getting it solid would be good, and an improvement from where we’ve been.”

Internationally, RBI continues to push expansion. In 2023, Popeyes added 282 new international locations, Tim Hortons added 196, and Firehouse secured a major deal in Mexico. Burger King, though slowed in China, still added 410 outlets globally—representing 46 percent of RBI’s international unit growth outside the U.S. and Canada.

In 2019, Burger King alone accounted for 87 percent of international growth. In China, it opened 285 stores in 2019 compared to just 113 last year. Currently, Burger King operates just under 1,500 locations in China.

To support growth in China, RBI invested Rs 374 crore ($45 million) in Tim Hortons China last year and also acquired full ownership of Popeyes China. In early 2024, the company acquired Burger King China for Rs 1,318 crore ($158 million) and is now working with Morgan Stanley to identify a new local operator.

“We’ve never had all three of the brands that are currently in China clicking at the same time. We’ve got to get that fixed,” noted Doyle. 

Doyle said RBI’s growth goal of 5 percent is attainable, estimating contributions of 400 new stores from North America, 300 in China, and 1,100 in other international markets. “We’ve just got to get China back to where it was,” he said. “And if we can get all the brands clicking, it can probably do better than that.”

Restaurant Brands Asia Limited (RBA), formerly Burger King India Limited, reported steady growth in both store expansion and financial performance for the fourth quarter of FY25, which ended on March 31, 2025. The company’s standalone revenue from operations reached Rs 4,898 million, reflecting an increase of 11.5 percent compared to the same period last year.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBIDTA) for the quarter rose to Rs 749 million, marking a 36 percent year-on-year growth. The EBIDTA margin improved to 15.3 percent, an increase of 2.8 percent over the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

Same-store sales grew 5.1 percent, supported by a strategic push on value offerings. RBA expanded its total Burger King India restaurant count to 513, adding 58 locations over the last 12 months. Additionally, the number of BK Café formats grew by 113 during the year, bringing the total count to 464 across its portfolio.

Rajeev Varman, Whole-time Director and Group Chief Executive Officer of RBA stated, “I am proud of the efforts of our teams who helped drive growth in sales and another quarter of improved profitability. We have introduced attractive value offerings that helped our performance, especially in dine-in traffic and sales. We aim to leverage our strong customer value proposition and stride ahead with our restaurant growth strategy.”

Looking ahead, the company is targeting a significant expansion of its footprint. “From a development standpoint, we will continue to expand our footprint across the country and increase our Burger King restaurants in India from 513 to around 800 by FY29,” added Varman.

RBA’s focus remains on operational efficiency, value-centric offerings, and aggressive store development as it scales its presence in India's highly competitive quick-service restaurant (QSR) segment.

Burger King's franchisee in India reported a larger third-quarter deficit due to rising expenses and customers cutting back on eating out due to inflation. For the three months that concluded on December 31, the company reported a net loss of 504 million rupees ($5.82 million), down from a loss of 361.8 million rupees the previous year. 

Burger King outlets in India saw a 0.5% decline in same-store sales, which the restaurant operator attributed to "flat demand."

Over the past several quarters, international fast-food companies like McDonald's and Burger King have increased their efforts to offer less expensive options in an effort to draw in India's price-conscious clientele in the face of high inflation.

Burger King provided some of the most affordable offers in the nation's market, such as a package of two vegetarian and two chicken burgers for Rs 79 and Rs 99, respectively. The company's income increased by 5.8% to 6.39 billion rupees as a result of this and the launch of more outlets. Although, the brand’s total store count in India remained at 510, up 69 outlets from last year and 46 outlets from the preceding quarter.

High ingredient costs, however, also had an impact on the business, raising overall costs by 8.5% to 7.03 billion rupees. In the midst of suppressed consumer sentiment, pizza giant Papa John's International and cafe chain Tata Starbucks have stated that they are reconsidering their future plans for Indian markets.

Burger King India is in talks to acquire controlling stake in PT Sari Burger Indonesia that operates Burger King chain of restaurants in Indonesia.

According to the burger chain PT Sari Burger Indonesia (BK Indonesia) can be a good fit given the company's experience in managing and operating the Burger King brand in India.

As per BK, they see high growth potential in the Indonesian market and believe that it can be the right partner to drive the Burger King brand in Indonesia though its next phase of growth.

The company has entered into a non-binding understanding with F&B Asia Venture (Singapore). F&B Asia through its wholly owned subsidiary currently holds an indirect equity interest of 65.79% in BK Indonesia. F&B Asia is a member of the 'promoter and promoter group' of BK Indonesia.

Burger King India, in response to an invitation for a non-binding offer from F&B Asia, submitted a non-binding indicative proposal for acquisition of controlling stake by way of a combination of primary and secondary transaction (i.e. up to 85% in BK Indonesia directly or indirectly by way of a secondary purchase and a further primary investment of up to $40 million), at a pre money enterprise value of BK Indonesia at $183 million on a cash free and debt free basis. The proposed transaction is subject to finalization of the structure, terms of acquisition, approval of the board and shareholders of the company.

It also announced that the proposal, on a non-binding basis, has been accepted by F&B Asia on Friday. Accordingly, the parties are subject to an exclusivity period of 90 days to explore and negotiate the proposed transaction.

Burger King India entered India in November 2014 and set the benchmark of opening 200 outlets in just 5 years.

QSR chain Burger King India has filed papers with market regulator Sebi to raise ₹ 542 crore through fresh issuance of shares.

Burger King's initial public offer (IPO) will consist of fresh issue of equity shares amounting to ₹ 542 crore and an offer for sale of up to 6 crore equity shares by the promoter QSR Asia.

The shares will be listed on the BSE and the NSE.

Also Read: Burger King India partners with Delhi Police to provide burgers to orphanages

The QSR chain had filed draft papers with Sebi earlier in November 2019 to raise ₹ 400 crore through fresh issues of shares and an offer for sale of up to 6 crore equity shares by QSR Asia.

It has now increased the funding issue size, in the additional papers filed with the market regulator.

Burger King India will use the IPO proceeds to start new company-owned Burger King Restaurants and for general corporate purposes.

May Interest: Burger King India gets SEBI's green signal to float IPO

It is also planning to roll out around 700 restaurants, including sub-franchised outlets by December 31, 2026, shared the draft prospectus.

Burger King India has partnered with Delhi Police to distribute burgers to children in orphanages and community clusters amidst the current COVID-19 crisis.

The Don Bosco Ashalayam and Auxilium Snehalya in Palam Village and Asha Grah Children Home for Boys and Girls in Dwarka were served with burgers as mid day snacks.

Further, kids of JJ clusters in the area of Vikas Puri, GTB Enclave, Madhu Vihar, R.K Puram and Kalkaji were also served burgers. As part of this partnership, Burger King distributed 5,000 burgers.

“We work closely with police officers in our communities on a regular basis and in these unprecedented times, we would like to salute them for their selfless service to the nation. We are honoured to partner with the Delhi Police to provide safe and hygienic food to children in this hour of need,” shared Srinivas Adapa, CMO Burger King.

The staff delivering the meals wear protective gear like masks and gloves to ensure safety, said the company. Since Covid – 19 outbreak, Burger King says that it has further strengthened its restaurant procedures around food safety, cleanliness and hygiene and increased its sanitization frequency in all restaurants across the country.

The Delhi Police also appreciated the brand gesture and were happy to partner with this initiative which brought a smile on the faces of young kids.

Burger King India has filed its draft prospectus for an initial public offering (IPO) with markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The IPO will be a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale.

Through the IPO, the burger chain is planning to raise Rs 400 crore as fresh capital while its promoter, QSR Asia Pte Ltd, will partially exit via an offer for sale of 6 crore equity shares.

A person directly aware of the matter said, “The total offer is expected to be of Rs 1,000 crore, of which the secondary component will be about Rs 600 crore through which all its shareholders will exit partially.”

The QSR chain is looking to use Rs 290 crore of the fresh capital to launch new restaurants in India. It is eyeing at having about 325 restaurants, including sub-franchised outlets by December 31, 2020.

The company said in its draft prospectus, “We also intend to open restaurants in new areas and markets where we believe there is strong potential for growth and in addition to taking advantage of the growing online delivery market, including through engagement with delivery aggregators.”

“This strategy will also help us to efficiently manage our supply chain due to the increased reach and density of our network and the proximity of our restaurants to each other and to the distribution centres of our third-party distributor,” it further stated.

In India, Burger King has 216 company-owned restaurants and eight sub-franchised restaurants across 47 cities, including Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Amritsar and Kochi.