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Starbucks global sales growth fell short of estimates, sending the company’s stock lower in after-market trading in spite of a 19 per cent rise in profits and a lift in its full-year forecast.
Net income in the three months ending April 1 rose to a record $309.9m, or 40 cents a share, from $261.6m or 34 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue climbed 14.7 per cent to $3.2bn from $2.8bn.
But weakness in the coffee chain’s European stores disappointed analysts, who had forecast a 2.2 per cent rise in sales at stores open at least 13 months but instead found a 1 per cent drop. Global same-store sales rose 7 per cent, below forecasts of an 8.2 per cent gain.
“The [European] macroeconomic environment is very, very difficulty and has taken a turn for the worse in the last couple months and that certainly impacts us,” said Troy Alstead, chief financial officer.
But he added that he saw Europe’s troubles as “transitory” and said the company’s bid to revamp its business there is similar to the steps it took to revive its US business during the financial crisis.
Meanwhile the company continued to see strong growth in Asia, with same-store sales up 18 per cent and revenue rising 32 per cent – the seventh straight quarter of sales growth above 20 per cent. In the Americas, Starbuck’s biggest region, sales rose 8.1 per cent.
While other US-based companies including McDonald’s and Yum! Brands have reported slowing same-store growth in China, Mr Alstead said Starbucks had not seen similar weakness. “Traffic growth continues to grow at an incredible pace, and China still has the highest store profit of anywhere in the world,” he said.
The company said it would accelerated planned openings in Asia to a net 400 new stores this year, with half located in China.
Investors were disappointed by the lower-than-expected rise in same-store sales and concerns over the company’s profit margins, and Starbucks shares fell as much as 5 per cent in after-hours trading in New York.
Commodity price pressures, particularly the higher cost of coffee, reduced operating income by $63.5m in the quarter and shaved 200 basis points off the company’s operating margin, which was flat at 13.5 per cent. Starbucks has raised its coffee prices in some of its 17,200 stores this year to keep pace with rising input costs.
Starbucks said it expected commodity costs to add about $230m in costs pressure this year, but that most of that was already reflected in the first half of the year.
Nevertheless, the company maintained its forecast that operating margin would improve by 50 to 100 basis points this year.
Starbucks raised its estimate for revenue growth in 2012 to the low teens from an early target of 10 per cent, driven by same-store sales growth, a net 1,000 new stores and higher sales of packaged coffee. The company also raised its full-year earnings guidance to $1.81 to $1.84 a share from $1.78 to $1.82.
From: ft.com
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