The Wendy's Company has reported a net income of $59.6m for the second quarter of 2023, a jump of 23.7% compared with $48.2m a year ago.

The company attributed the surge in profit to an increase in operating profit and higher other income, which was driven by a growth in interest income.

Operating profit for the latest quarter was $109.3m against $96.3m in the same period a year ago.

For the quarter ended 2 July 2023, the company’s total revenues were $561.6m, up by 4.4% compared with $5376.8m a year ago.

The company noted that the increase in revenue was due to sales growth at company-operated restaurants, as well as a surge in franchise royalty revenue and advertising revenue.

In the last three months, Wendy’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was $144.5m against $132.9m in the same period of 2022.

The company’s adjusted earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter was $0.28 compared to $0.24 in the corresponding period of last year.

The Wendy's Company president and CEO Todd Penegor said: “I am proud of the entire Wendy's system for delivering another quarter of meaningful sales and profit growth alongside sustained progress against our strategic growth pillars.

“We continued to drive significant profit expansion, supported by strong same-restaurant sales momentum, resulting in an over 200 basis point year-over-year increase in US company-operated restaurant margin.

“During the quarter, our breakfast and late-night dayparts delivered outsized growth and we sustained our digital strength. We also continued to make progress against our development goal with 80 global restaurant openings year to date.”

Concurrently, Wendy's signed a new master franchise agreement with Flynn Restaurant Group, which will see 200 Wendy's restaurants opening in Australia through 2034.

As per the terms of the agreement, Flynn Restaurant Group will serve as the exclusive master franchisee in Australia.