McDonald’s Korea said Thursday its net losses widened in 2022 from a year earlier, despite strong sales.

Net losses deepened to US$27.4 million last year from $26.1 million in 2021, the South Korean unit of US fast food giant McDonald’s said in a regulatory filing.

McDonald’s Korea also posted an operating loss of $20.8 million last year, almost unchanged from 2021.

Still, McDonald’s Korea said its sales rose 14.6 per cent on-year to $745 million in 2022, despite higher raw materials costs and interest rate hikes.

Sales, including those of franchises, hit a record high of $876.3 billion since McDonald’s entered the South Korean market in 1988. It marked the second consecutive year the company achieved sales exceeding $749 billion.

Last year, McDonald’s Korea raised the prices of 68 items, including drinks and desserts, by an average of 4.8 per cent.

McDonald’s Korea said it plans to expand its “Taste of Korea” project of launching locally-inspired products.

In 2021, McDonald’s sold the “BTS meal” in South Korea, the United States and 10 other nations in celebrity collaboration with the K-pop supergroup.

The “BTS meal” includes a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries and Coke as well as two new dipping sauces — sweet chili and Cajun flavors — inspired by recipes from South Korea, where the boy band is from.

This story was originally published by Yonhap, via Korea Bizwire.