DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Starbucks Corp.'s (SBUX) fiscal fourth-quarter net income fell 97% amid restructuring charges and a continued slump in U.S. sales, as the company continued to redefine its brand.
The company also cut its international store-growth plans for the new year by 200, to 700 stores, and it expects U.S. same-store sales to fall in fiscal 2009.
Shares were down 3% to $9.90 in recent after-hours trading.
For the period ended Sept. 28, the coffee giant reported net income of $5.4 million, or 1 cent a share, down from $158.5 million, or 21 cents a share, a year ago. The latest results included 9 cents a share in restructuring costs amid the company's effort to close about 600 underperforming U.S. company-operated stores. One-third of them were shuttered during the quarter.
Net revenue rose 3% to $2.52 billion.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for per-share earnings of 13 cents on revenue of $2.58 billion.
Starbucks said U.S. comparable-store sales fell 8%, marking the fourth straight quarter of sales declines at the company. Traffic and average transaction totals both fell.
International revenue improved 13%, outpacing U.S. revenue, which was up 1%.
Using fiscal 2008's comparable-store sales drop of 3%, the company lowered its fiscal 2009 per-share earnings target to 71 cents, down from its April view of per-share earnings of 90 cents to $1. Analysts were looking for earnings of 87 cents a share. But depending on how same-store sales end up, the company gave earnings targets ranging from 59 cents to 90 cents.
Starbucks also expects its international store count to rise by about 700 this fiscal year, not the 900 previously anticipated.
The company has found itself saddled with rising costs, declining revenue and has faced increased competition from Dunkin' Donuts, McDonald's Corp. (MCD) and local competitors. Last quarter, the company posted it's first quarterly loss six months after starting a turnaround effort.
Still, Chief Executive Howard Schultz said last month the company may have hit bottom as of late September amid signs the chain was improving its business. The company is trying to win back customers through several moves, including a new loyalty card aimed at Starbucks' most frequent users. In June, the chain implemented a new coffee blend, Pike's Place Roast, to a mixed reaction.
He said Monday "we appear to be more resilient than many other premium brands. And while we cannot call isolated signs of improving sales a trend, we are encouraged by our ability to drive increased traffic at a relatively low cost, as we did on Election Day."
Last week, the coffee chain made an unusual move to offer a free cup of brewed coffee to all customers on Election Day.
-By John Kell, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5285; John.Kell@dowjones.com;
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 10, 2008 17:01 ET (22:01 GMT)

Publié le 10 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones