OAKVILLE, Ontario — Tim Hortons Inc. has reported same-store sales have increased 3.4 percent in Canada and 3.2 percent in the United States for the first quarter ended March 29, the company has announced.
Total revenues were $507.2 million (Canadian dollars) for the first quarter, up 10.2 percent compared to $460.3 million in the same period last year. Total revenues benefited from a positive impact of approximately 1.8 percent from foreign exchange translation and were partially offset by lower revenues from company-operated and FIN 46R restaurants.
Net income attributable to Tim Hortons was up 7.5 percent at $66.4 million, compared to $61.8 million last year. Net income growth was offset in part by a higher effective tax rate, which was 33.3 percent compared to 32.8 percent in the same period last year.
Same-store sales were driven by active menu and marketing initiatives that included combo product offerings focused on both the breakfast and snacking day parts, as well as the popular annual Roll Up the Rim to Win contest. This year's prizes included Toyota Venzas, $10,000 cash, Toshiba Laptops, TimCards and millions of food prizes. Previous pricing in the system also contributed to same-store sales growth, as did the timing of Easter compared to last year.
In the second quarter, the benefit of previous pricing in the system is expected to be less than 1 percent and the timing benefit of the shift in Easter will reverse.
"Sales growth in both our Canadian and U.S. markets was quite strong in the first quarter considering the challenging economic circumstances that continued to persist. Sales accelerated through the quarter after a slow start in January, supported by active menu and marketing programs and previous pricing in the system. We also continued to execute our growth agenda, opening new restaurants in targeted U.S. markets and throughout Canada," said Don Schroeder, Tim Horton's president and CEO.
Conference call, annual stockholders meeting
A replay of the Tim Hortons conference call discussing first quarter results will be available for one week and can be accessed by calling (416) 626-4100 or (800) 558-5253. The reservation number for the replay of the call is 21412008. The call also will be archived for one year on www.timhortons-invest.com by clicking on the "Events and Presentations" tab.
Tim Hortons will host its annual meeting of stockholders May 8 at Ryerson University, Toronto, starting at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time. The annual meeting will be simulcast, including presentation material, and will be accessible by visiting the "Events and Presentations" tab at www.timhortons-invest.com. An archive of the simulcast also will be available at this site for a period of one year.
