India's Barbeque-Nation posts second consecutive quarterly loss

BENGALURU, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Indias Barbeque-Nation Hospitality (BARQ.NS) on Monday reported a loss for a second straight quarter, hurt by slowing demand and rising expenses.

The restaurant chain posted a consolidated net loss of 123.7 million rupees ($1.5 million) for the three months ended Sept. 30, compared to a loss of 43.1 million rupees last quarter.

The company had posted a profit of 70.9 million rupees in the year-ago period.

Indian food companies have been battling slowing customer footfall as high inflation is causing consumers to curb discretionary spending.

Indias retail inflation remained above the Reserve Bank of Indias 2%-6% tolerance for most of the reporting quarter, and eased to 5.02% only in September.

To offset this, Barbeque-Nation launched promotional offers including \“early bird sales\” on beverages and food to increase sales.

The company said in a statement it saw a \“seasonally weak quarter impacted by vegetarian only days.\”

Its same store sales - a key metric of performance - fell 10.7% year-on-year, while its total revenue fell 2.8%. The company added four stores and closed four others in the period.

It added that it would look at cost optimization ways to improve same stores sales growth in the second half of the fiscal.

Barbeque-Nations expenses rose 2%, dragged higher employee benefit expenses and occupancy costs, which more than offset a 2.5% decline in cost of food and beverages.

Shares of Barbeque Nation fell 2.5% at 631.9 rupees after the results, with a trading volume of 1.7x its 30-day average.

Rivals Westlife Foodworld (WEST.NS) and Sapphire Foods India (SAPI.NS) previously posted fall in profits, while Dominos Pizza franchisee Jubilant FoodWorks (JUBI.NS) beat Q2 profit estimates as cheaper pizzas helped demand.

($1 = 83.1950 Indian rupees)