News

Tim Hortons sluggish sales drag down RBI's Q1 performance

April 29, 2019

Profits dropped for Restaurants Brands International Inc, parent company of Burger King, Popeyes and Tim Horton's, in the first quarter of this year compared to Q1 2018, with some of the blame falling on a dull performance from Tim Hortons, according to summary results released this morning by the company. 

The company posted a profit of 53 cents per diluted share, compared to 59 cents during last year's quarter and analysts' estimates of 58 cents. Profits were $135 million this year for the three brands, compared to $148 million in Q1 2018. 

Other key Q1 2019 highlights include:

• Total revenue for the period ending March 31 was almost $1.27 billion, which was up from $1.25 billion in the first quarter of 2018.
• Tim Hortons comp store sales dropped 0.6 per cent. 
• Popeyes same-store sales grew 0.6 percent. 
• Burger King recorded a 2.2 percent comp sales increase over the quarter. 
• Consolidated restaurant growth was down to 5.1 percent, compared to 6.1 percent last year.
• Total units were 25,809 units at the end of the quarter, compared to 24,559 last year's quarter. 

"At Burger King and Popeyes, we saw strong system-wide sales growth driven by net restaurant growth, reflecting the strength of our brands and business model around the world," RBI CEO Jose Cil said in the quarterly financial summary. "Underlying fundamentals at Tim Hortons remain strong and we are excited about our first three restaurants in China."