Sphera Franchise Group, the largest food service group in Romania and operator of the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Hard Rock Cafe, and Cioccolatitaliani chains, is accelerating its expansion strategy by diversifying service formats and continuously investing in its network. The group launched its first KFC restaurant in a Delivery Carry Out format in Pope\u0219ti-Leordeni and is testing an unconventional concept via a customized train on the Bucharest \u2013 Costine\u0219ti route. These initiatives support the company’s development plans for 2026, which feature an investment budget of RON 130 million (EUR 24.82 million) and sales targets exceeding RON 1.69 billion (EUR 322.6 million).<\/p>\n
Recent expansion includes an investment of approximately EUR 420,000 in the first KFC restaurant operated exclusively in a Delivery Carry Out format, located in the La Strada shopping center in Pope\u0219ti-Leordeni. The venue covers an area of about 100 sqm, employs 15 staff members, and is designed without a dine-in area, being optimized for operational efficiency through digital screens and orders processed directly in the restaurant, via the Click & Collect service, or through partner delivery platforms. This marks the fourth KFC expansion carried out by the group this year \u2014 following the openings of KFC M Park Titan in Bucharest, B\u0103l\u021bi (Republic of Moldova), and San Don\u00e0 di Piave (Italy) \u2014, bringing the national network to a total of 112 units. Marian Gogu, General Manager of KFC Romania, emphasized that the new format enables an efficient response in a dynamic community, tailored to consumers’ needs for speed and flexibility. In parallel, the brand is testing seasonal formats on the coast by putting into service a customized train on the Bucharest \u2013 Costine\u0219ti route, integrated into the Nibiru festival, which operates as a daily mobile restaurant from July 16 to August 30, between 18:00 and 03:00, reconfirming KFC’s direction of integrating the brand into contexts relevant to customers’ lifestyles.<\/p>\n
For 2026, the budget proposed by the Board of Directors and submitted for approval at the AGM on April 29-30 includes allocating RON 130 million (EUR 24.82 million) for opening 21 new restaurants: 11 in Romania (8 KFC, 2 Taco Bell, and 1 Hard Rock Cafe), 2 in the Republic of Moldova (KFC and Taco Bell), and 8 in Italy (3 KFC and 5 Cioccolatitaliani), along with investments in remodels and digitalization through ordering kiosks. Financial projections foresee a 7.6% increase in restaurant sales, an estimated EBITDA of RON 160 million (EUR 30.54 million, +8.2%), and a net profit of RON 72.7 million (EUR 13.88 million, +1.1%), under conditions of an average inflation rate of approximately 6% and maintaining food and material costs at 31.2% of total sales. C\u0103lin Ionescu, CEO of Sphera Franchise Group, specified that the budget is built prudently in relation to geopolitical uncertainties, inflationary pressures, and cost increases for raw materials, energy, and fuel.<\/p>\n
During the AGM on April 29-30, shareholders will also vote on the distribution of the net profit of RON 101.01 million (EUR 19.28 million) obtained in the previous financial year: RON 5.07 million (EUR 0.97 million) for the legal reserve and RON 40.99 million (EUR 7.82 million) as gross dividends (RON 1.06\/share, with a payment date on June 10). At the closing price of RON 37.55 (EUR 7.17)\/share, the dividend offers a yield of 2.37%. In addition, the agenda includes approving the contracting of a credit facility of up to EUR 27 million from Raiffeisen Bank. The expansion budget is backed by 2025 performance, a year in which Sphera reported restaurant revenues of RON 1.57 billion (EUR 299.71 million, +1.29%), generated mainly by KFC with RON 1.35 billion (EUR 257.71 million, representing 86.4% of the total), Pizza Hut with RON 106.8 million (EUR 20.39 million), and Taco Bell with RON 106.7 million (EUR 20.37 million, +16.2%). Normalized EBITDA decreased last year by 16.42% to RON 147.84 million (EUR 28.22 million), while restaurant expenses rose to RON 491.15 million (EUR 93.76 million, +1.57%) and general expenses to RON 67.12 million (EUR 12.81 million, +5.97%), resulting in a net profit of RON 57.63 million (EUR 11.00 million, -40.83%). As of December 31, 2025, total assets amounted to RON 777.58 million (EUR 148.44 million, -0.76%), and liabilities stood at RON 649.90 million (EUR 124.06 million, +3.40%). Sphera operates over 180 locations in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, and Italy, employs around 5,000 people, and is listed on the Bucharest Stock Exchange (SFG), being included in the BET and MSCI Frontier Markets indices.<\/p>\n
Where was the first KFC Delivery Carry Out restaurant opened?<\/strong><\/p>\n The first KFC Delivery Carry Out restaurant was opened in the La Strada shopping center in Pope\u0219ti-Leordeni, following an investment of approximately EUR 420,000.<\/p>\n What is Sphera Franchise Group’s proposed investment budget for 2026?<\/strong><\/p>\n For 2026, Sphera Franchise Group proposes an investment budget of RON 130 million (EUR 24.82 million) dedicated to opening 21 new restaurants and driving digitalization.<\/p>\n What is the coastal promotional project launched by KFC?<\/strong><\/p>\n KFC is testing a mobile restaurant concept inside a customized train on the Bucharest \u2013 Costine\u0219ti route, integrated into the Nibiru festival and operating from July 16 to August 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sphera Franchise Group, the largest food service group in Romania and operator of the KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Hard Rock Cafe, and Cioccolatitaliani chains, is accelerating its expansion strategy by diversifying service formats and continuously investing in its network. The group launched its first KFC restaurant in a Delivery Carry Out format in Pope\u0219ti-Leordeni…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":127666,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2852],"tags":[1581],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-127800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hotels-restaurants","tag-kfc"],"article_style_override":"on","post-style":"style2","post_via":[{"title":"profit.ro | 16.07","post_source_url":"https:\/\/www.profit.ro"}],"post-top-image":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hoteluri-si-resturante-category-picture.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127666"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127800"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=127800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}