☰

Empresas y finanzas

Starbucks' Q1 lags forecasts, shares steady


    LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp's quarterly profit lagged expectations after sales at established stores fell 9 percent globally, as the company said it will close 300 more outlets and slash nearly 7,000 jobs to try to save $500 million in fiscal 2009.

    STARBUCKS (SBUX.NQ) struggling to get ahead of its weakening U.S. business by cutting costs, plans to shut an additional 300 stores globally in fiscal 2009, on top of a previously announced 600 store closures in the United States, Chief Executive Howard Schultz said in a letter to employees.

    Shares in the coffee chain slipped about 0.7 percent to $9.58 in after hours trade, just a whisker off its $9.65 close at the end of regular trading.

    Net income for the fiscal first quarter ended December 28 fell to $64.3 million, or 9 cents per share. A year earlier, the Seattle-based company reported a profit of $208.1 million, or 28 cents per share.

    It reported non-GAAP earnings per share of 15 cents, lagging a consensus estimate for 17 cents, according to Reuters Estimates.

    Total revenue slid 6 percent to $2.6 billion from $2.8 billion.

    At the end of the fourth quarter, there were more than 11,500 U.S. Starbucks stores and more than 5,000 abroad.

    (Reporting by Lisa Baertlein; editing by Carol Bishopric)