Canton, Mass.-based Dunkin’ Brands Inc., parent company of Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins, has announced that its portfolio grew significantly in 2010. Throughout the year, the company opened 800 new outlets worldwide, bringing its total points of distribution to 16,193 in 52 countries.

Broken down, there were 574 net new locations for Dunkin’ Donuts. In the United States, the chain signed an additional 226 new domestic development agreements, representing a 50 percent increase in agreements over 2009. Of these, a significant number of new agreements came from existing franchisees.

Multi-store development agreements were signed in 29 U.S. markets in 2010, including Milwaukee, Detroit, Tallahassee, Fla., Nashville and Chicago.

“Last year was a tremendous growth year for Dunkin' Brands and for Dunkin' Donuts in particular," said Nigel Travis, chief executive officer, Dunkin' Brands Inc. and president, Dunkin' Donuts. "We have an incredible community of franchisees who provide guests with a great experience on a daily basis and who are important contributors to our brand's growth.”

In addition to the expansion numbers, more than 450 Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants were remodeled in 2010.

2010 preliminary financial results

Dunkin' Brands also announced some preliminary financial results for fiscal 2010, which ended on Dec. 25. The company expects to report global system-wide sales for fiscal 2010 of approximately $7.7 billion compared to $7.2 billion for fiscal 2009. This represents approximately a 7 percent year-over-year increase.

The company also expects to report total revenues for fiscal 2010 in the range of approximately $575 million to $580 million compared to $538 million for fiscal 2009, an increase of approximately 7 percent.

Increases in both global system-wide sales and Dunkin' Brands revenues for fiscal 2010 are primarily attributable to growth in royalty payments, driven by Dunkin' Donuts U.S. comparable same-store sales growth, Baskin-Robbins international sales and global store development.

Same-store sales growth for Dunkin' Donuts U.S., which represents more than 70 percent of Dunkin Brand's system-wide sales, increased 2.3 percent for fiscal 2010 compared to fiscal 2009 and 4.7 percent for the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. This increase is attributable to the continued growth in Dunkin' Donuts U.S. beverage sales as well as new product introductions.    

Proposed re-pricing of loan debt

Additionally, Dunkin' Brands announced that it is proposing to re-price its outstanding $1.25 billion term loan. 

"The consummation of the re-pricing is subject to market and other customary conditions. As a result of a disciplined, operations-focused approach to supporting our franchised business, strong marketing, innovative new product introductions and industry-leading net new store development, I am pleased to report that 2010 was a strong year for Dunkin' Brands," Travis said. "The proposed re-pricing of our outstanding term loan debt will enable us to take advantage of a favorable lending market and achieve significant interest savings while maintaining our current capital structure."