Restaurant Brands Asia, the operator of Burger King in India and Indonesia, said its India business turned a profit for the first time in the July-to-September quarter, earning 155.85 million rupees after tax as same-store sales at Burger King India rose 14%. A year earlier the unit lost 202.42 million rupees.

The result matters beyond Mumbai. The listed company also runs Burger King and Popeyes in Indonesia, a business that has weighed on group earnings for years, and the quarter showed that unit edging toward break-even. For investors tracking fast-food chains across Asia, the numbers stand in contrast to China, where Yum China and Luckin reported falling same-store sales even as profits grew.

Group revenue from operations rose 20.1% to 8,448 million rupees in the quarter, the company said in its results release on Oct. 29. Company-level earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, measured before the Ind AS 116 lease accounting standard, climbed to 432 million rupees from 113 million rupees a year earlier.

The group still posted a consolidated net loss, but a much smaller one. It lost about 238 million rupees, compared with about 633 million rupees in the same quarter of last year, according to results data compiled by ICICI Direct.

Burger King India's sales and margins

India carried the quarter. Revenue from the India business rose 24.1% to 7,056 million rupees, and same-store sales growth of 14% was faster than the 12.6% recorded in the April-to-June quarter, BusinessWorld reported.

The chain added 17 restaurants in India after June 30, bringing its network to 607 outlets at the end of September, according to the company. That is 74 more than a year earlier, BusinessWorld said.

Margins widened at every level. Gross margin rose to 70.4% from 68.3%, as the cost of materials fell to 29.6% of revenue from 31.7%, according to BusinessWorld. Restaurant-level EBITDA before Ind AS 116 rose 53.7% to 910 million rupees, lifting the margin to 12.9% from 10.4%. Company EBITDA for India on the same basis rose 94.1% to 551 million rupees, a margin of 7.8% against 5% a year before.

Group Chief Executive Rajeev Varman credited the 14% same-store growth and new openings for the jump in revenue and profitability, according to the release. He said the company's priorities were "sales growth, cost efficiencies and growing our restaurant footprint," BusinessWorld reported.

The company has set a target of adding 80 to 100 restaurants a year through a strategy of opening stores in clusters, according to BusinessWorld.

Indonesia unit nears break-even

The Indonesian business remains small next to India, but it moved in the right direction. Revenue there rose 3.3% to 1,392.77 million rupees, and the segment loss narrowed to 8.26 million rupees from 66.38 million rupees a year earlier, according to the segment figures compiled by ICICI Direct.

Mr. Varman said "Burger King Indonesia is witnessing revival" on the back of the company's strategic initiatives, according to the release. The company did not give Indonesian same-store sales figures in the release.

Indonesia accounted for about 16% of group revenue in the quarter, based on the segment figures. A swing to profit there would remove one of the main drags that kept the group in the red even as the Indian chain improved.

New leadership for the India business

The results came with a reshuffle at the top. The board approved the appointment of Sumit Zaveri, the group's chief financial officer and chief business officer, as chief executive of the India business from Nov. 1, BusinessWorld reported. He continues to report to Mr. Varman.

Mr. Zaveri joined the company in September 2019 and became interim chief financial officer in May 2025, according to BusinessWorld. He previously worked at Tata Group companies including Tata Starbucks and The Indian Hotels Company.

Several other senior appointments took effect on the same date, including a new group chief technology officer and a new chief supply chain officer, BusinessWorld said. The changes follow a change in control of the company in July 2026, when a new investor group replaced QSR Asia as promoter, according to the same report.

The next test is the October-to-December quarter, which includes the Diwali festival season in India and will show whether the 14% same-store pace held as the chain kept opening restaurants.