News

Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Hortons' parent falls short in Q3

October 24, 2018

Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Hortons' parent company, Restaurant Brands International, turned in lower than expected earnings in its third quarter, ending Sept. 30, but CEO Daniel Schwartz said improvements continued at all three brands thanks to new initiatives at both Tim Hortons and Burger King, as well as expansion at Popeyes. 

"During the third quarter, together with our franchisees, we continued to improve Tim Hortons comparable sales by executing against our 'Winning Together' plan.," Schwartz said in a press release. "We also unveiled our new, modern 'Burger King of Tomorrow' restaurant image and our plans to roll out the image across the U.S. 

"At Popeyes, we continued to accelerate net restaurant growth and signed additional restaurant development agreements, including in the Philippines. We remain confident that our focus on guest satisfaction and franchisee profitability will drive growth at all three of our brands for many years to come."

Key highlights from Q3 include: 

• 1 percent same-store sales growth at Burger King, down from 3.6 percent last year's quarter. 
• 0.6 percent same-store sales growth at Tim Hortons, up from analysts' expectations of 0.4 percent.
• 0.5 percent same-store sales growth at Popeyes, up from a 1.8 percent drop last year's quarter. 
• Net income was $133.6 million, or 53 cents a share, up from $179.0 million, or 37 cents last year's period. 
• Revenue was $1.375 billion under a new accounting standard, compared to $1.209 billion on the former standard. 

The company said Q3 systemwide sales growth was driven by 6.1 percent net restaurant growth and comparable sales of 1 percent, including U.S. comp sales of 0.7 percent