MIAMI Burger King Holdings Inc., parent company to the No.2 burger chain, posted a 41-percent surge in its fiscal 2007 second-quarter profit, versus a year earlier, as corporate revenues rose 9 percent to a record $559 million.
Revenues were driven by positive same-stores sales worldwide, up 3.7 percent from a year ago, and new restaurant openings especially in international markets, the company said. In the United States and Canada, Burger King said same-store sales rose 4.4 percent, driven by the chain’s BK Value Menu and sales of the company’s Xbox games that feature the advertising character, The King.
For the quarter ended Dec. 31, Burger King earned $38 million, or 28 cents per share, versus $27 million, or 24 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Adjusting for year-ago one-time items, including $3 million in management fees, Burger King’s latest-quarter income would have risen 9 percent to $38 million from $35 million a year ago, the company reported.
In other corporate news, the company also said it would pay its first shareholder dividend as a public company. The per-share dividend payment of 6.25 cents will be paid on March 15, to shareholders of record on Feb. 15.
Burger King’s system totals 11,184 mostly franchised restaurants.