Starbucks Revenue Rises as Traffic Grows

Starbucks Corp. said revenue jumped 18% in the March quarter as traffic increased world-wide.

Shares, up 18% this year through Wednesday's close, jumped 5.4% in recent after-hours trading.

Sales at company-operated stores in the U.S. open at least 13 months rose 7% during the latest quarter as traffic grew by 2%. Starbucks' comparable sales world-wide also rose 7%, with a 3% traffic increase.

The company recently tapped Kevin Johnson, a former chief executive at Juniper Networks Inc. and 16-year veteran of Microsoft Corp., as president. He started March 1. The company plans to open 1,650 stores this year. It backed its full-year capital expenditure of $1.4 billion.

In the latest quarter, the company added 1.3 million members to its Starbucks Rewards program, bringing total membership to 10.3 million.

For the period ended in March, Starbucks reported a profit of $495 million, or 33 cents a share, up from $427 million, or 28 cents a share, a year earlier. The result was in line with analyst predictions.

Revenue increased 18% to $4.56 billion, above analyst expectations of $4.53 billion.

For quarter ending in June, the company forecast per-share earnings of 40 cents to 41 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected per-share profit of 40 cents.

Write to Angela Chen at [e-mail]

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