Skip navigation

Strong comps, new stores boost BK’s profits

MIAMI Restaurant openings and strong same-store sales lifted Burger King Holdings Inc.’s net profits to $41 million, or 30 cents per share, for the third quarter ended March 31, a 20-percent increase over the year-ago figures of $34 million, or 25 cents per share, the company said. Revenues rose 10 percent, to $594 million.

The franchisor or operator of 11,400 quick-service restaurants posted same-store sales gains of 5.4 percent in the United States and Canada and 5.8 percent worldwide. Chief executive officer John Chidsey said domestic sales were driven by the chain’s promotion of both bargain-priced and higher-ticket items, such as the BBQ Bacon Tendercrisp sandwich. The company refers to that approach as its “barbell menu strategy.”

Chidsey also cited the contributions of such marketing efforts as the Whopper Freakout campaign, which films patrons as they’re jokingly told that the chain no longer serves Whoppers.

“We leveraged our product pipeline and marketing initiatives around the world while creating a consistent and positive guest experience at our restaurants,” Chidsey said.

He revealed that near-term marketing plans include the launch of a new Indy Whopper sandwich, a tie-in to the new Indiana Jones movie that hits theaters later this month.

The Burger King chain had 254 more units in operation than it did 12 months earlier, including 60 that were opened during the just-concluded quarter, the company said. The new stores included the first Burger King in Colombia and three franchised airport locations in China.

The company said that quarterly average restaurant sales increased systemwide to $313,000, a 10-percent increase over the $284,000 average of the year-ago period. But the worldwide average per-unit profit margin fell to 13.2 percent of sales, compared with 14 percent a year ago. The chain attributed the higher costs to its ongoing renovation program, along with steep commodity prices, particularly in the United States, the company said.

Hide comments

Comments

  • Allowed HTML tags: <em> <strong> <blockquote> <br> <p>

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.
Publish