Burger King Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:BKC) today announced that U.S. and
Canada segment comparable sales were severely impacted during the months
of January and February 2010 by adverse weather conditions in the
Central and Eastern portions of the U.S., where over 75 percent of this
segment’s company- and franchise-owned restaurants are located. The U.S.
and Canada segment reported comparable system sales of negative 8.2
percent in the two-month period ended February 28, 2010, compared to
positive 3.1 percent in the same period last year. Based on its
analysis, the company believes inclement weather negatively impacted
January and February U.S. and Canada company comparable sales by
approximately 3.0 percentage points during the period. Therefore, the
company expects third-quarter fiscal 2010 U.S. and Canada total
revenues, company restaurant margin and income from operations to be
lower than the prior year period.
Worldwide comparable sales for the two-month period ended February 28,
2010, were negative 5.4 percent, partially offset by positive results in
the EMEA/APAC business segment, compared to worldwide comparable sales
of positive 2.5 percent in the prior year period.
"As we mentioned during our second quarter earnings call, U.S. and
Canada January sales were impacted by adverse weather conditions, which
worsened in February, resulting in lower than anticipated sales,” said
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John W. Chidsey. "However, we have
seen improvement in sales with positive traffic at our company-owned
restaurants in the U.S. and Canada during the first week of March,
compared to January and February, as the impact of weather has become
less significant.”
A challenging consumer environment is expected to continue as
unemployment levels are forecasted to remain high throughout 2010. As
such, the company will continue to feature its robust value menu
including the new Buck Double beginning in April while flexing the
indulgent side of its barbell menu with offerings such as the Steakhouse
XTTM burger.
"We are pleased with the consumer response to the new Steakhouse XTTM
burger and are looking forward to the launch of bone-in ribs at the end
of May,” Chidsey said. "The innovative products coming off our
game-changing broiler are expected to satisfy our guests’ indulgent
tastes at affordable prices while building higher check.”
Later this month, BKC will introduce its BK® Breakfast Muffin sandwich
priced at no more than one dollar and BKTM Breakfast Bowl to
enhance its breakfast offerings. These product introductions are in
advance of a new U.S. comprehensive breakfast platform launching later
in the year and includes Seattle’s Best Blend® coffee made from
100-percent arabica beans.
The company will provide additional information on its third quarter
fiscal 2010 results and an outlook for the full fiscal year as part of
its quarterly earnings release and Web cast tentatively scheduled on
April 29, 2010.
Preliminary and Un-audited results*
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Two Months Ended
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February 28,
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2010
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2009
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(In Constant Currencies)
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Company Comparable Sales Growth:
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|
|
|
|
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U.S. & Canada
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(6.1
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)%
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2.4
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%
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EMEA/APAC
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|
(4.9
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)%
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(2.4
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)%
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Latin America
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(5.8
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)%
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(2.8
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)%
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|
Total Company Comparable Sales Growth:
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(5.8
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)%
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0.9
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%
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Franchise Comparable Sales Growth:
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|
|
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U.S. & Canada
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(8.5
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)%
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3.3
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%
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EMEA/APAC
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|
1.3
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%
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1.3
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%
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Latin America
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(2.1
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)%
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3.6
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%
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Total Franchise Comparable Sales Growth:
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(5.3
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)%
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2.7
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%
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System Comparable Sales Growth:
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U.S. & Canada
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(8.2
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)%
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3.1
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%
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EMEA/APAC
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0.6
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%
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0.8
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%
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|
Latin America
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(2.3
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)%
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3.1
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%
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|
Total System Comparable Sales Growth:
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(5.4
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)%
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2.5
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%
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*Data provided is preliminary and subject to change as the company
completes its third quarter fiscal 2010 financial close.
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ABOUT BURGER KING HOLDINGS, INC.
The BURGER KING® system operates more than 12,000 restaurants in all 50
states and in 73 countries and U.S. territories worldwide. Approximately
90 percent of BURGER KING® restaurants are owned and operated by
independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have
been in business for decades. In 2008, Fortune magazine ranked Burger
King Corp. (BKC) among America's 1,000 largest corporations and in 2010,
Standard & Poor's included shares of Burger King Holdings, Inc. to the
S&P MidCap 400 index. BKC was recently recognized by Interbrand on its
top 100 "Best Global Brands" list and Ad Week has named it one of the
top three industry-changing advertisers within the last three decades.
To learn more about Burger King Corp., please visit the company's Web
site at www.bk.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements made in this press release that reflect management's
expectations regarding future events are forward-looking in nature,
including statements regarding the Company's belief and expectations
about the impact of weather on January and February 2010 U.S. company
comparable sales; its belief and expectations regarding U.S. and Canada
total revenues, company restaurant margin and income from operations in
the third quarter of fiscal 2010; its belief and expectations regarding
sales and traffic performance at company-owned restaurants in the U.S.
and Canada during the first week of March 2010; its belief and
expectations regarding the challenging consumer environment and the
impact of continued high unemployment levels; its belief and
expectations regarding the success of new products such as the
Steakhouse XT™ burger, bone-in ribs, the BK® Breakfast Muffin sandwich,
Seattle's Best Blend® coffee and new BKTM Breakfast Bowl, and
its belief and expectations regarding its ability to introduce
innovative products on the Company's new broiler that will satisfy
guests' indulgent tastes at affordable prices while building higher
check. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based on
our current expectations and projections about future events. Important
factors could cause our actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including
those risk factors set forth in our annual and quarterly reports filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the following: (i)
global economic or other business conditions that may affect the desire
or ability of our customers to purchase our products, such as higher
unemployment rates; (ii) the effectiveness of our marketing and
advertising programs and franchisee support of these programs; and (iii)
risks related to unforeseen events, including adverse weather and
climate conditions.
Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results. Moreover,
neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy
or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should
not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future
events. We do not undertake any responsibility to update any of these
forward-looking statements to conform our prior statements to actual
results or revised expectations.
