Asian Markets Rebound as Tech Rally Lifts Wall Street, Investors Brace for BOJ Rate Hike 
MetaX IPO Soars as China’s AI Chip Stocks Ignite Investor Frenzy 
Japan Inflation Holds Firm in November as BOJ Nears Key Rate Hike Decision 
Micron Technology Forecasts Surge in Revenue and Earnings on AI-Driven Memory Demand 
Maersk Vessel Successfully Transits Red Sea After Nearly Two Years Amid Ongoing Security Concerns 
U.S. Stock Futures Edge Higher as Micron Earnings Boost AI Sentiment Ahead of CPI Data 
Canada Signals Delay in US Tariff Deal as Talks Shift to USMCA Review 
New Zealand Business Confidence Hits 30-Year High as Economic Outlook Improves 
TikTok U.S. Deal Advances as ByteDance Signs Binding Joint Venture Agreement 
BoE Set to Cut Rates as UK Inflation Slows, but Further Easing Likely Limited 
Asian Currencies Trade Sideways as Dollar Weakens Ahead of Key U.S. Data 
Asian Stocks Edge Higher as Tech Recovers, U.S. Economic Uncertainty Caps Gains 
Blackstone Leads $400 Million Funding Round in Cyera at $9 Billion Valuation 
Nike Shares Slide as Margins Fall Again Amid China Slump and Costly Turnaround 
Robinhood Expands Sports Event Contracts With Player Performance Wagers 
Citi Appoints Ryan Ellis as Head of Markets Sales for Australia and New Zealand 
Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein to Retire, Leaving Legacy of Premium Strategy 
KFC announced its plans to add 600 new restaurant outlets in France within five years' time. The goal has been revealed by the fried chicken brand's managing director Cedric Losdat this week during the company's performance report for the 2021 financial year.
According to Neo Restauration, KFC France's turnover for its 300 franchised locations reached €617 million last year, with nine percent gains from its profits in 2019 and 20% for 2020.
It was mentioned that these results still exclude the earnings from the 17 openings in 2021. Losdat said that KFC France outperformed the market expectations, and with its total sales results, it showed that the company is almost going back to the pre-pandemic levels. In fact, the brand's market share in the country has gone up to 23.5% in the last two years.
"We must emphasize the multi-channel dynamic in our sales, with consumers who, more than before the health crisis, want to be able to access the brand through very different channels, KFC France's managing director said with regards to the plans of building more restaurants.
He added, "Since the lifting of the vaccination pass regulation, there was an increase in on-site attendance in most restaurants and we feel that customers want to come back, and for this, we want to further improve the dining experience by providing better service and store design.
Local media outlet, Snacking reported that with KFC France's latest announcement on actively resuming its restaurant development, it is aiming to open more than 40 outlet stores every year. It was noted that while the fried chicken brand has around 25,000 branches around the world, it has yet to conquer France.
Now that it is pursuing the scheme to expand in this region and the works to achieve this has resumed again, KFC France is looking forward to a strong business once it has established more restaurants within the next few years. The company is confident that more French customers will dine and eat fried chickens the whole year-round.
Finally, KFC France, which has 56 local franchised partners, will build more stores by adding new partners that will operate as independent franchisees rather than do business on lease-management arrangement. "We are going to look for new profiles of investors and groups of investors, with the capacity to open 10, 30, 80 restaurants," Losdat said.
