Pizza Hut franchisee files for Chapter 11

NPC International has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as the weight of $1bn in debts overcame recent improvements to the company's online game. NPC is the largest American franchisee of Yum Brands' Pizza Hut, operating more than 1,200 of them along with almost 400 Wendy's restaurants. Not surprisingly, the company's spokesman put a positive spin on the disastrous bankruptcy news. “We view it as an opportunity to create a better future for NPC’s Pizza Hut restaurants…As NPC works through this process, we support an outcome resulting in an organization with a lower, more sustainable level of debt, ownership focus on operational excellence and a greater level of restaurant investment.” Bizarrely, Pizza Hut was actually turning out improved same-store sales during April and May thanks to a successful drive to sell more online and roll out deliveries. But it wasn't enough to erase problems that had become clear last year, when its debt rating fell into junk territory. The company missed interest payments on $800m in debt at the end of January this year, but for the moment, it's unclear whether NPC will join rival Chuck E. Cheese in the dustbin of fast food history.