Fast food chain Sphera Franchise Group has opened a new KFC restaurant in Alba Iulia, Romania.

This is the 101st KFC restaurant in Romania.

According to reports by SeeNews, the new site is situated in Carolina Mall and comes after Sphera committed a €500,000 ($543,250) investment.

Meanwhile, Sphera reported a net profit of 19.4m lei ($4.2m) for the first half of 2023, compared to a net loss of 8.7m lei during the same period last year.

For the first half of 2023, revenues were 695.6m lei, up 14.8% compared to the first half of last year.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) surged by 146.5% year-over-year (YoY) to 52.4m lei n the first half.

In March this year, Sphera partnered with Rompetrol to open the first KFC restaurants within Romania's Rompetrol gas station network.

KFC DT Pecica and KFC Orastie are two of the three restaurants managed by the gas station company along the A1 highway.

KFC DT Pecica is a drive-through restaurant situated along the A1 highway at km 558+380. KFC Orastie is located at km 340+500, within a Rompetrol station along the A1 highway.

KFC generated 50 jobs by opening the two restaurants.

The group runs 179 restaurants in Romania, Italy and Moldova, encompassing the KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell brands.