News

Burger King, Popeyes report strong earnings, Tim Hortons lags behind

February 10, 2020

Restaurant Brands International Inc, which owns Popeyes, Tim Hortons and Burger King, reported consolidated system-wide sales growth of 10% in Q4 and over 8% in 2019 for the period ended Dec. 31, 2019.

"Last year, we shared a long-term aspiration to build the most loved restaurant brands in the world and have more than 40,000 restaurants open within 8 to10 years," RBI CEO Jose Cil said in a press release. "I'm proud that our 2019 results have us solidly on track."

Burger King delivered its strongest year of restaurant growth in the last two decades, reporting over 9% system-wide sales growth. Popeyes reported system-wide sales growth of 18.5 % for 2019, driven largely by the launch of its chicken sandwich, which Cil called a "game changer." 

Tim Hortons, however, did not reflect the power of the brand only reporting .3% system-wide sales growth for the year.

"It is clear that we have a large opportunity to refocus on our founding values and what has made us famous with our guests over the years, which will be the basis for our plan in 2020," Cil said. 

2019 growth and profitability highlights:

• System-wide sales growth of 8.3%.
• Net restaurant growth of 5.2%.
• Diluted EPS of $2.37 versus $2.42 in prior year.
• Adjusted Diluted EPS of $2.72 versus $2.63 in prior year.
• Net income attributable to common shareholders and noncontrolling Interests of $1,109 million versus $1,143 million in prior year.
• Adjusted EBITDA of $2,304 million increased 6.5% organically versus the prior year.
• Net cash provided by operating activities of $1,476 million and free cash flow of $1,414 million.

RBI, which has more than 27,000 restaurants, opened 1,342 units in 2019.