LOS ANGELES – Starbucks Corp. (SBUX), the world's largest coffee shop chain, Wednesday said quarterly net profit rose 47 percent, helped by its aggressive store expansion and an extra week in the period.
Net income climbed to $103 million, or 25 cents per share, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended Oct. 3, from $70 million, or 17 cents per share, in the same period last year.
Wall Street analysts had expected the company to report earnings of between 24 cents and 26 cents per share with an average view of 25 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.
An extra week in this year's fourth quarter added 3 cents per share to Starbucks' net profit for the period, the Seattle company said in a statement.
Net revenue rose 34 percent to $1.5 billion.
For its fiscal year 2005, Starbucks expects to earn between $1.12 and $1.15 per share excluding any impact from expensing stock options.
Revenue is forecast to rise about 20 percent for the year.
Starbucks shares fell more than 2 percent to $54 in after-hours trading on the INET electronic brokerage system following the announcement. The stock closed at $55.29 Wednesday on Nasdaq.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox