** India's Westlife Foodworld WEST.NS down 3%, Sapphire Foods India SAPI.NS slips 2%

** Westlife, which runs McDonald's MCD.N outlets in west and south India, posted a 62% plunge in profit

** Sapphire, which runs KFC and Pizza Hut, swung to a net loss of 18 million rupees ($208,261)

** SAPI's Q1 core profit below our and street's estimates, we are concerned about cautious near-term growth outlook and dependence on recovery for margin expansion - Macquarie note

** WEST's margins "in-line" and no improvement in growth metrics, we remain watchful of demand getting better - Motilal Oswal

** On an avg SAPI rated "buy", WEST rated "hold" - data compiled by LSEG

** YTD, WEST down ~5% and SAPI up 2%

($1 = 86.3340 Indian rupees)

(Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee in Bengaluru)

((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com;))