Jan. 29, BENGALURU (Reuters) - Strong sales during the holiday season helped Restaurant Brands Asia, which runs the Burger King and Popeyes franchises in Indonesia and India, disclose a reduced third-quarter loss on Monday.

In the three months ended December 31, the company's consolidated net loss decreased from 504.2 million rupees ($4.4 million) to 361.8 million rupees.

However, the corporation has lost money in a quarter for the past seventeen, with this time being attributed to an increase in overall expenses of around 10%.

The business, which manages Restaurant Brands International's quick service outlets, revealed that the cost of components such chicken, cheese, tomatoes, and onions increased by 12.6%.

Nonetheless, sales rose by almost 15% over the course of the quarter, aided by consumers spending more money during the Christmas season and the Indian Diwali festival.

India, which accounts for roughly 74% of global sales, saw an increase in sales as well since this year's vegetarian-focused holy holidays happened in September rather than October.

Restaurant Brands Asia's same-store sales growth at Indian Burger King locations decreased to 2.6% in the October–December quarter from 28% in the corresponding period last year.

Competing fast food chain operators have not yet released their findings. These include Devyani International, the operator of KFC, Sapphire Foods, the operator of Pizza Hut, Westlife Foodworld, theoperator of McDonald's, and Jubilant FoodWorks, the franchisee of Domino's India.

The stock of Restaurant Brands Asia ended the day lower by 2.9% in advance of Monday's results. $1 is equal to 83.1300 Indian rupees.