Starbucks on Wednesday reported a 34 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit, a sign of its success in enticing customers in to its coffee shops with pumpkin lattes and other seasonal drinks.
Net income during the quarter that ended Tuesday was $ 481.1 million, the Seattle-based company said in a news release. Earnings per share rose 37 per cent to a record 63 cents.
“The fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 capped off by far the best year in Starbucks 42-year-history,” said chief executive Howard Schultz said in the release.
Total revenue in the fourth quarter was $ 3.8 billion, 13 per cent more than the fourth quarter 2012.
The world’s largest coffee-shop chain also said it opened 558 stores in the quarter and now has more than 1,000 stores in China and Japan.
Starbucks plans to continue to expand. It aims to open 1,500 new stores in fiscal year 2014, most of them in Asia and the United States, and increase revenue by 10 per cent. About 150 of the new stores are to open in Europe, West Asia and Africa.
The company reported similarly strong results for its fiscal year.
Total revenues were 14.9 billion, while consolidated operating income rose 23 per cent to 2.5 billion.
Starbucks shares have climbed 51 per cent this year through the close of regular trading on Wednesday, Bloomberg News reported.