Fast-food operator Jubilant Foodworks Ltd, which runs the Dominos Pizza chain in India, is close to a deal with another global food retailer, its chief executive said.

Jubilant, which raised $71 million last year in a popular IPO, is also pushing ahead with plans to enter Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, CEO Ajay Kaul told Reuters on Tuesday.

He declined to identify the names of companies Jubilant was in talks with.

"We are in discussions with more than one retailer ... it should happen soon. In the next financial year (starting April 1) we should be able to make an announcement," he said.

Jubilant is considering raising prices in April by between 2 and 2.5 percent, Kaul said, which would be its second increase since November amid surging food inflation in India.

India's restrictive retail sector permits only 51 percent foreign direct investment in single-brand retail, forcing overseas operators to tie up with local players.

Jubilant was earlier reported to be in talks with global coffee retailer Starbucks, which last month tied up with India's Tata Coffee to source coffee from India and explore opening stores in the country.

ON TRACK

Jubilant, which is the franchisee for Dominos in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, plans to open its first store in Sri Lanka in April and set up a facility there to make dough with the capacity to serve 40 to 50 stores, he said.

Jubilant hopes to open its first store in Bangladesh by March 2012, he said.

In India, the firm had 364 stores at the end of 2010 and is on track to open 70 more in the fiscal year that ends in March, a pace Kaul said Jubilant is likely to match in coming years.

Food inflation however is a concern.

"Milk leading to cheese is our key ingredient and milk prices are shooting up ... so given the state of affairs we may have to revisit pricing in April," Kaul said.

The firm expects to maintain EBITDA margins for the March quarter at 17.5 percent versus an average of 18 percent for the first nine months of this fiscal year.

Jubilant on Monday posted a 67 percent jump in December quarter net profit to 189.6 million rupees ($4.2 million). Net sales rose to 1.86 billion rupees from 1.17 billion.

Same store sales rose 35.7 percent, from 23.1 percent a year ago.

"In the first three quarters we were at 37 percent same-store growth ... however, to continue with this high performance will be difficult and the same-store sales growth going forward will come down slightly," Kaul said.

Shares of the firm, with a market value of $729 million, were down 3.6 percent at 496.85 rupees in a weak Mumbai market. The stock trades at over three times its IPO price.