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Any change of pricing runs the risk of impacting transaction volumes, he said, at a time when same store sales growth was up by 5.6 per cent in Australia for the half.

“Maintaining transaction growth is the lifeblood of this business,” O’Malley said.

“We really want to make sure we don’t get in front of our customers in areas like pricing.”

The drop in the share price came as O’Malley told investors on Tuesday that margin pressure was expected to remain across the business for the rest of this financial year.

The company also confirmed it would pause the rollout of new stores of quick service Mexican chain Taco Bell, to “to ensure the long-term strength of the brand and to generate the required return on investment”.

Same store sales declined by 7.8 per cent across Taco Bell stores during the half.

“We have paused new restaurant builds, other than the five-six already committed, to enable us to work with [Taco Bell owner] Yum! to regain traction on sales before further recommencing the rollout and scaling the brand,” O’Malley said.

Jarden analysts said the group’s financials slightly missed market expectations because of the higher costs.

“The themes are consistent with commentary from peers such as Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, however, we are seeing a slowing of momentum across the EU since the trading update at [last financial year’s] result,” analyst Ben Gilbert said in a note to clients, adding they should brace for analysts slashing their profit forecasts for the company.