News

Starbucks Q2 profit rises 27%

May 3, 2006

SEATTLE — Starbucks Corp. reported its second-quarter profit rose 27 percent. According to a news release, there was a brisk customer demand for its coffee drinks and green tea beverages.

Comparable-store sales rose 10 percent, making it the 57th consecutive quarter of such growth.

For the 13 weeks ended April 2, the store posted net earnings of $127 million compared to $100 million last year. Revenue for the latest quarter increased to $1.89 billion from $1.52 billion last year

For the month of April, Starbucks reported its smallest same-store increase since March 2005. Even still, the coffeehouse giant's comparable same-store sales rose 6 percent for the month.

"If people are disappointed by 6 percent they really need to examine the underlying characteristics of the company," said Howard Schultz, chairman of the company. He told Reuters that the April figure was "artificially low" because of the company's annual sale on brewing equipment happened in March this year and in April last year.