Burger King profit beats estimates

Yet the fast-food chain, known as home of the Whopper, said its business would remain under pressure in the new year because of lingering unemployment and government austerity programs in several European countries.

Burger King is more vulnerable to a weak job market than rivals McDonald's Corp and Wendy's/Arby's Group Inc because a larger share of its customers are young males, a group that has suffered massive job losses in industries like construction and manufacturing.

"As we enter fiscal 2011, we anticipate that the challenging consumer environment will continue due to high unemployment and underemployment levels and weak consumer confidence," said Chief Executive Officer John Chidsey in a statement.

The second-biggest U.S. hamburger chain after McDonald's had net income of $49 million, or 36 cents a share, in the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, down from $58.9 million, or 44 cents a share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 34 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Burger King said foreign currency exchange rates reduced fourth-quarter earnings by 1 cent per share.

Revenue slipped 1 percent to $623 million, falling short of analysts' expectation for revenue of $635 million.

Worldwide sales at restaurants open at least 13 months were down 0.7 percent, driven by a 1.5 percent drop in the United States and Canada.

General and administrative expenses decreased by $6.5 million, due to ongoing cost-cutting initiatives.

McDonald's global same-restaurant sales were up 4.8 percent for the June quarter, while Wendy's reported a 1.7 percent fall in systemwide sales at established North America restaurants for the latest quarter.

Burger King shares rose to $16.90 in premarket trade, from their close at $16.62 on Monday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller, Phil Wahba and Lisa Baertlein; editing by John Wallace, Dave Zimmerman)