Burger King Q2 Profit Up, Adj. Earnings Top Estimates - Update

(RTTNews) - Burger King Worldwide, Inc. (BKW) Friday reported higher second-quarter profit, helped mainly by lower operating expenses. The operator of fast food hamburger restaurants said its results also reflected comparable sales growth across all four regions and increased restaurant openings.

Adjusted earnings beat analysts' expectations, while revenues missed view.

For the quarter, the company's net income increased to $75.1 million or $0.21 per share from $62.9 million or $0.18 per share in the previous year.

Adjusted earnings were $0.25 per share, while the company posted $0.21 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On average, 10 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.23 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Revenues for the quarter declined 6.1 percent to $261.2 million from $278.3 million, mainly due to the net refranchising of 360 company-owned restaurants in 2013. Wall Street expected revenues of $262.18 million for the quarter.

On an organic basis, excluding the impact of the global refranchising transactions and currency movements, revenue increased 6.4 percent year-over-year due to net restaurant growth and global comparable sales growth.

System-wide sales increased 5.4 percent at constant currency; Global comparable sales increased 0.9 percent at constant currency with growth across all four regions.

Total operating costs and expenses fell 24.4 percent to $109.7 million from $145.1 million a year earlier.

Looking ahead, chief executive officer Daniel Schwartz said, "We plan to deliver another strong second half of the year as we capitalize on the positive momentum we have generated through the continued efforts of our exceptional franchisees, partners, and employees."

Net restaurant growth was 131, an increase of 4.8 percent from the prior year.

On July 31, the company's board approved an increase in quarterly dividend to $0.08 per share for the third quarter. The dividend is payable on August 26, 2014, to shareholders on record August 12, 2014.

BKW is currently trading at $26.84, up 1.76 percent.