THE COMPANY that runs the Pizza Hut, KFC and Costa Coffee franchises in Ireland continued to defy the recession last year, growing its profits by 35 per cent.

MBCC Foods (Ireland) posted a pretax profit of €1.39 million in the year to January 31st, 2010, according to accounts recently filed with the companies office. This compares to profits of just under €1.03 million a year earlier, and brought the food company’s accumulated profits to €2.13 million.

MBCC’s main shareholders are Edinburgh-based brothers Raju and Sundeep Tuli. The firm grew its workforce to an average of 636 people last year, from 605 in its 2009 financial year. Total payroll costs amounted to €8.85 million.

MBCC was not completely immune to the economic downturn however. After the financial year-end, the firm closed two loss-making outlets. An impairment adjustment of €728,732 arose as a result (this adjustment was reflected in the financial statements at January 31st, 2010).

The directors listed the possibility of increased interest rates and adverse exchange movements among the main risks facing MBCC. The company’s parent is Tuli (Holdings) Ireland Limited, which in turn is owned by members of the Tuli family.

In addition to MBCC, Tuli also has an interest in property rental company Kashmiri Properties (Ireland). Previously, Tuli also ran Jean Scene (Ireland) Ltd, but this chain went into liquidation in March last year.

The Tuli brothers came from market stall beginnings to build up the Jean Scene, and are among Scotland’s richest businessmen.

MBCC operates the Irish franchises of Pizza Hut – the world’s largest pizza restaurant chain – and KFC, both of which are owned by Yum! Brands. In 2005, Tuli acquired the Irish franchise rights for Costa Coffee, a British chain owned by Whitbread.