Starbucks profit beats, Europe weakness hurts

Puntúa la noticia :

Nota de los usuarios: - (0votos)

• Bolsa, mercados y cotizaciones
• Empresas y finanzas

Share

Tweet

elEconomista.es en Twitter

Follow @eleconomistaes

Cotizaciones

STARBUCKS

54,730

-1,53%

Llévate la cotización a tu web

Enlaces relacionados

Herido un operario forestal cuando manejaba una máquina en un monte de Ransinde (León) (26/01)

Herido un operario forestal cuando manejaba una máquina en un monte de Ransinde (León) (26/01)

Un ballet contemporáneo israelí inaugurará el Festival de Danza, que cerrará Monte-Carlo con la 'Cenicienta' (25/01)

El hombre hallado en el monte de San Antón presenta hipotermia y deshidratación pero está estable (24/01)

Encuentran herido a un hombre desaparecido en el monte de San Antón, en Málaga (24/01)

EcoTablet - ¡Gratis en App Store!

La plataforma más completa de información y servicios económicos para iPad.

• Suscribirse al boletín
• Imprimir
• Enviar
• Aumentar texto
• Reducir texto
• Haga doble click sobre una palabra para ver su signifcado
• Sudoku: Juega cada día a uno nuevo
• El tiempo: Consulta la previsión para tu ciudad

(Reuters) - Starbucks Corp reported a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street's view, but its shares fell as investors in the world's biggest coffee chain focused on softness in Europe rather than strength in the United States.

The company's shares, up roughly 45 percent from a year ago and hovering near all-time highs, were off 2.2 percent at $47.26 in extended trading after closing at $48.34.

STARBUCKS (SBUX.NQ)and other top-performing restaurant chains like McDonald's Corp have been on a tear and their stocks often sell off on anything but absolutely pristine results.

Sales from cafes open at least 13 months were up just 2 percent for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region, versus the 9 percent gain for the much larger America unit, chiefly from the United States.

Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead said on a webcast that Starbucks has been underperforming internal targets in Europe -- where debt worries and high unemployment weigh heavily on consumers -- and that the company has taken steps to improve results there.

Operating margin for the EMEA unit was 6.5 percent in the first quarter, down from 9.7 percent a year earlier.

Starbucks said the margin contraction was primarily due to higher distribution costs related to moving to a consolidated distribution center in its UK market.

Britain's recovery from the 2008/2009 recession - the deepest since the depression-hit 1930s - has been sluggish.

Edward Jones analyst Jack Russo said results from Europe were weaker than expected, but that they needed to be seen in context.

"A 2 percent comp is still pretty good considering what's going on over there," Russo said, referring to Europe's sales at established restaurants.

Based on its better-than-expected fiscal first-quarter results, the company raised the low end of its full-year profit forecast to a range of $1.78 to $1.82 per share from $1.75 to$1.82.

"They're being conservative. It's so early in the year," Lazard Capital Markets analyst Matthew DiFrisco said when asked about the company's revised fiscal 2012 forecast.

When asked if the company has noticed any evidence of softening consumer demand due to the still volatile economic conditions around the world, CFO Alstead said: "We haven't seen it."

Global sales at established Starbucks cafes jumped 9 percent, helped by an increase in customer visits and spending per transaction. That beat the 7.7 percent gain analysts, on average, expected, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Net income was $382.1 million, or 50 cents per share, for the quarter ended January 1. That was up from $346.6 million, or 45 cents, in the year earlier period.

Analysts, on average, were looking for a profit of 49 cents per share in the latest quarter, according to Thomson Reuters

I/B/E/S.

Total revenue rose 16 percent to $3.4 billion.

The Seattle-based company has been raising prices on some drinks to help offset higher costs for commodities like coffee and milk.

Starbucks expects new products to build sales as the year progresses.

In November it started selling its coffee and Tazo tea for Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc's popular Keurig machines, which control about 80 percent of the fast-growing North American single-serve brewing segment.

It then expanded its coffee lineup in January with "Blonde," the company's lightest roast to date. That new coffee is widely seen as an answer to McDonald's and Dunkin' Donuts, which each brew lighter roasts than Starbucks. Those chains also have gone after Starbucks' core business by introducing drinks such as lattes and frappes.

Starbucks, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread Co cater to relatively upscale consumers and have been outperforming the broader restaurant industry, whose overall sales are expected to lag population growth this decade.

(Reporting By Lisa Baertlein in Los Angeles; editing by Andre Grenon, Phil Berlowitz)

PUBLICIDAD

- Recibe nuestros análisis Diarios sobre Divisas, Acciones y Opciones. ¡Apúntate ya! ¡Es GRATIS!

- Opere en más de 8.000 CFDs. Infórmese y obtenga su CFD Trading Guide

- Nuevos spreads en materias primas: Oro tan sólo 0,3 puntos, Plata 0,25, Petróleo 0,35

- Opera desde 2,95 € en tiempo real con Self Bank.