But on an underlying basis, the Brisbane based fast food company that holds the licence for KFC, Taco Bell and Sizzler Asia, said its earnings before interest tax and depreciation was up marginally to $95.4 million. It has also maintained its dividend of 12 cents a share.

The company said there was a pause on new Taco Bell stores, but expected a recovery this financial year after same store sales fell 7.8 per cent.

“To ensure the long-term strength of the brand and to generate the required return on investment, new restaurant builds beyond the five to six sites already committed have been paused,” the company said.

Also, a $11.9 million impairment was recorded for the first half from the eight closures.

Managing director Drew O’Malley said top line growth in its KFC business had been impressive and allowed the company to mitigate “considerable margin headwinds”.

“While we expect inflationary pressure to remain in the near-term, we continue to pursue our long-term growth agenda and will continue to invest in new restaurant builds as well as equipment technology and operational innovations to provide unmatched experiences for our customers and our people,” he said.

He said KFC’s strong performance was continuing in the current half year with same store sales up 5.6 per cent in Australia for the first six weeks and 14.8 per cent in Europe.

There were 12 new KFC stores planned for Australia this financial year and the company was continuing to looked for merger and acquisition opportunities in Europe and Australia.

“Despite the current pause on new store development, we expect Taco Bell Australia’s rollout if delivery with Uber Eats, product quality upgrades and enhanced value marketing will return the brand to sustainable positive same store sales in 2023, establishing a more robust foundation to reignite development for this brand,” O’Malley said.