Burger King, KFC owners take sales hit as fast-food spending tapers

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Burger King parent Restaurant Brands QSR.NQSR.TO and KFC owner Yum Brands YUM.

N missed market estimates for quarterly results on Tuesday, hit by choppy demand in the United States and abroad from budget-stretched customers. Rising fast-food prices over the past year have prompted consumers to cook cheaper meals at home and avoid eating out, hurting traffic across the industry. As a result, quick-service restaurant (QSR) chains have turned to aggressive promotions in an attempt to attract value-seeking customers.

Burger King, McDonald's, KFC and Wendy's WEN.O have all launched $5 value meals since June this year to get lower-income customers back into their outlets. "This is a challenging situation for the QSR market.

I don't think anybody's going to be out of trouble anytime soon, but they're doing something that seems to be working to at least stop the deceleration in traffic," said Danilo Gargiulo, senior analyst at Bernstein. Burger King's U.S.

sales declined 0.4% in the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a 6.

6% rise last year. Fast food deals: Value meal wars heat up as more fast food spots, restaurants offer discounted menu items Intense sector-wide promotions made it difficult for Burger King's Fiery menu option "to cut through all the value messages in the market", Restaurant Brands CEO Joshua Kobza said on a post-earnings call. KFC's same-store sales in the U.

S. tumbled 5% in the same period, marking the third straight quarter of declines this yea.