Wage rises in the US and store closures in China weighed on Starbucks’ profit margins in the three months to July, but Howard Schultz said its quarterly performance showed signs of “early progress” in his attempt to revive the coffee chain.
Four months after Schultz returned as interim chief executive to a company struggling with inflationary pressures, shifting consumer habits and a unionisation drive in its home market, earnings for Starbucks’ fiscal third quarter fell from 97 cents per share a year earlier to 79 cents, narrowly beating the 77 cents Wall Street analysts had forecast.
The drop in pre-tax income from $1.4bn to $1.19bn came despite record quarterly revenues of $8.2bn, which were up almost 9 per cent year on year.