A general view of a Tim Hortons Drive-Thru cafe and restaurant at Lakeside Retail Park on February 5, 2024 in Grays, United Kingdom.
John Keeble | fake images
International Restaurant Brands reported quarterly earnings and revenue on Tuesday that topped analysts' expectations, driven by stronger-than-expected Tim Hortons sales.
The company's shares were unchanged in premarket trading.
Here's what the company reported compared to what Wall Street expected, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv:
- Earnings per share: Adjusted 75 cents vs. expected 73 cents
- Revenue: $1.82 billion vs. $1.81 billion expected
Restaurant Brands reported fourth-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $508 million, or $1.60 per share, up from $229 million, or 74 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 75 cents per share.
net sales rose 8% to $1.82 billion.
This quarter marks the first time Restaurant Brands has shared its results using its new reporting structure. The company now discloses results for its individual brands in the U.S. and Canada and groups all of its international locations into its “international” segment.
Tim Hortons' comparable sales rose 8.4% in the quarter, beating StreetAccount estimates of 4.7%. The Canadian coffee chain is typically the largest contributor to Restaurant Brands' revenue. While best known for its hot coffee and breakfast food, Tims continued to grow sales of its cold drinks and afternoon snacks, Restaurant Brands CEO Josh Kobza told CNBC.
Burger King reported comparable sales growth of 6.3%. The chain's U.S. business has been on a recovery plan for more than a year that includes remodeling restaurants and spending more money on advertising. Burger King's U.S. locations saw traffic growth during the quarter, a sign that the strategy is working.
“That's something we haven't seen in a long time and it's different than a lot of our competitors were, so that was a big highlight for me in the quarter,” Kobza said.
Burger King U.S. President Tom Curtis told CNBC that consumers were resilient in the fourth quarter, but are still interested in good deals.
“I think, for us, that was probably one of the reasons behind our relative success in the fourth quarter with Royal Crispy Wraps,” he said.
Restaurant Brands also recently acquired Burger King's largest U.S. franchise, Carrols Restaurant Group, in a $1 billion deal to help the chain renovate its locations even faster.
Popeyes' comparable sales grew 5.5% in the quarter. The fried chicken chain launched chicken wings as a permanent menu item during the period. The wings were the focus of Popeyes' first Super Bowl commercial, which aired during Sunday's game.
Restaurant Brands reported international same-store sales growth of 4.6%.
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