Burger King enters Croatian market

Rumor has is Burger King has granted franchise rights for Croatia to Slovenian Sportina Group.

Slovenian Sportina Group has allegedly acquired franchise rights for Burger King for Croatia and the first restaurant in the country will open soon, local media reported in August 2013.

The Slovenian company’s spokesperson declined to confirm or deny the rumors.  Burger King is the only one who can give out that kind of information, Sportina representative told the Croatian business newspaper Poslovni Dnevnik.

A number of locations in the capital of Croatia, the city of Zagreb, have been investigated according to the newspaper. 

This is not the first time Burger King is allegedly to open a restaurant in Croatia.  A couple of years ago local newspapers reported the fast-food chain, which is one of the top three brands in the word, considered to open its first restaurant in the country.

Sportina Group, one of the largest retailers in South-East Europe, has been a franchise partner with Burger King since 2011 when in March it opened the first Burger King restaurant in the Slovenian capital city of Ljubljana. Sportna also has presence in other countries in South-East Europe, including Serbia, Croatia, Bulgaria, Bosna and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Kosovo.

Burger King recently announced it is also entering Sri Lanka. The company has granted franchise rights to Softlogic Holdings Plc, one of the largest conglomerates in the country. A subsidiary of Softlogic will build and operate three restaurants in Sri Lanka within a few months, the company said in a filing with the stock exchange.

Burger King has presence in 89 countries worldwide according to the company’s report for the first half of 2013 ending June 30. The company runs over 13,000 restaurants, 99% of which are franchise-operated. Burger King reported $98.7 million consolidated net income for the first half of 2013, or 21.4% increase year-on-year.

The company has opened 128 new franchises for the second quarter of 2013 primarily in China, Turkey, Russia and Brazil, compared to 73 for the same period a year earlier.

To operate a Burger King franchise, a company has to invest between $1.5 million and $2.5 million. The investment includes a fixed franchise fee of $50,000 and a royalty fee of 4.5% of monthly gross sales.