Starbucks swings to profit in Q4, plans 1,650 new stores

Seattle –- Starbucks Corp. topped off a generally successful fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 by swinging to net income of $587.9 million from net loss of $1.23 billion the fourth quarter of the prior fiscal year. The removal of a one-time arbitration charge of $2.8 billion helped bring Starbucks into the black.



Consolidated net revenues were $4.2 billion, an increase of 10% from $3.8 billion, driven primarily by 5% growth in global same-store store sales and incremental revenues from 1,599 net new store openings in the past 12 months.



In 2015, Starbucks plans 1,650 net new store openings. These include approximately 650 in the Americas, half licensed, approximately 150 in Europe/Middle East/Africa, primarily licensed, and about 850 in China/Asia Pacific, two-thirds licensed.



For the full fiscal year 2014, Starbucks reported net income of $2.07 billion, up more than 24,000% from $8.3 million in the prior fiscal year. Net revenues rose 11% to $16.45 billion from $14.87 billion. Consolidated same-store sales grew 6%.



“Starbucks fourth quarter results capped off a year of exceptional performance across our business and around the world,” said Scott Maw, Starbucks CFO. “In the fourth quarter, each of our segments delivered strong and balanced revenue and profit growth, consistent with the prior three quarters of fiscal 2014. The increasing global strength of the Starbucks brand, a robust pipeline of innovation, strong global comparable store sales growth and impressive margin expansion in conjunction with a company-wide emphasis on operational excellence and expense management give me great confidence in achieving our 2015 growth targets.”



Starbucks’ growth targets for 2015, beyond new store openings, include revenue growth of 16% -18%, including more than $1 billion in incremental revenue from the planned acquisition of Starbucks Japan. Global same-store store sales growth continues to be targeted in the mid-single digits.