Customers dragged down Starbucks Corp’s fortunes for two years, buying fewer lattes and making fewer trips to its stores.
However, they began returning to the world’s largest coffee chain late last year, and that helped the company serve up a double-shot of optimism on Wednesday when it announced the increase in sales in shops open at least a year — its first since early 2008 — and a tripling in quarterly profit.
After a three-prong strategy of closing hundreds of locations, laying off thousands of workers and laboring to tweak its menu, the world’s largest coffee company’s revenue edged up too.
Chairman and chief executive officer Howard Schultz promised to turn to its shops abroad with that same level of attention.
‘DEDICATED’
“We’re dedicated to bringing the same laser-focus we brought to our US business ... to these businesses in 2010 and beyond,” Schultz told investors on a conference call on Wednesday after the company reported its fiscal first-quarter results.
“Despite our strong showing, we have much more work to do,” Schultz said, adding he hopes to make similar improvements, particularly in the UK, Canada and China.
For the three months that ended on Dec. 27, Starbucks earned US$241.5 million, or US$0.32 per share. During the same period a year earlier, when the recession was in full force, Starbucks earned US$64.3 million, or US$0.9 per share.
Its revenue rose 4 percent to US$2.72 billion.
‘PROGRESS’
“We’re extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made in this period of time,” chief financial officer Troy Alstead said in an interview. “We’ve come a long way in the US”
Starbucks raised its full-year forecast, saying it now expects to earn an adjusted profit of US$1.05 per share to US$1.08 per share, with revenue climbing by the mid-single digit percentages. In November, it expected to report an adjusted profit of up to US$0.96 per share on lesser revenue gains for this fiscal year.
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