as a result of the coronavirus and reported a decline in same-store sales for the year.
The company has seen a country-wide sales impact year to date, with sales in China down mid-to-low double digits year-over-year, CEO Rob Lynch said in an interview with CNBC. And while the company reported its second straight quarter of same-store sales growth in North America with an increase of 3.5%, full-year same store sales growth in the region still fell 2.2%. Meanwhile the company is grappling with an increasingly competitive fast food landscape where food beyond pizza is readily available for delivery at the drop of a hat.
Papa John's is gathering real-time information from its team on the ground and is monitoring the spread of the virus closely. It's also delivering free pizza to healthcare workers in the communities where it has restaurants. For the full-year 2020, Papa John's is currently guiding for international same-store sales growth of between 1.5% to 4%, and the company reported international same-store sales growth this past quarter of 2.4%.
Coronavirus is the latest challenge for Lynch, who came on as Papa John's CEO last summer. Lynch, the former president of Arby's, led a turnaround at that brand and was dealing with a company looking to get back to basics after a battle with its namesake founder and former CEO that had dragged on for more than a year.
Yeah, let's blame the coronavirus! 🤣🤣 whatever dude
Well at least they wont have to eat mediocre pizza when they get past this 🙏🏻🙏🏻