Coffeehouse and roastery brand Starbucks has reported net earnings of $908.3m in the fiscal second quarter(Q2) that ended on 2 April.
These earnings represent a 34.7% increase from the prior year as it benefitted from the lifting of the zero-Covid-19 policy in China and growth in North America.
Diluted net earnings per share in the quarter were 79¢.
A year ago, the coffee chain posted net earnings of $674.5m, or 58¢ per share.
The brand’s consolidated net revenues were $8.7bn in Q2, a 14.2% rise from $7.6bn in the previous year.
Net revenues increased 17% to $6.4bn in the North America segment and rose 9% to $1.9bn in the International segment.
The company’s global comparable store sales grew 11%, with a 12% growth in North America and a 12% growth in the US.
International comparable store sales rose 7%, with comparable store sales in China up 3%.
The firm’s GAAP operating margin rose 15.2% in the quarter compared with last year’s 12.4%.
The rise resulted from “sales leverage, pricing, productivity improvement and gain on the sale of Seattle’s Best Coffee brand.”
The non-GAAP operating margin stood at 14.3% against 13.0% a year earlier.
In Q2 2023, the brand launched 464 newnet stores, ending the period with 36,634 stores worldwide. Of these stores, 51% are company-operated and the remaining 49% are licensed stores.
Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan said: “I am very pleased with our Reinvention progress and grateful for the opportunity to fully immerse into the company, which I formally took over on 20 March 2023. It is a privilege to have learned from our founder and partners around the world.
“From my immersion observations, our leadership team now has a clear line of sight into our growth headroom, as well as our opportunities to enhance margins and modernise the business, brand, partner experience and culture of Starbucks.”
