SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 28 (Xinhua) -- U.S. coffee chain titan Starbucks Corporation on Tuesday reported better-than-expected financial results as its global same-store sales and the number of stores grew 5 percent and 6 percent respectively for the first quarter of fiscal 2020.
Starbucks, based in Seattle, Washington state, said the comparable same-restaurant sales increase of 5 percent was driven by 6 percent growth in the U.S. market and 3 percent in China for the period.
The company said it had opened 539 net new stores in the first quarter that ended on December 29, 2019, bringing the total to 31,795 stores, up 6 percent over the year before.
The rise was led by a 16 percent store growth in China, Starbucks' second-largest but fastest growing market, the company said.
Meanwhile, the company earned about 7.1 billion U.S. dollars in net revenue, up 7 percent, in the first quarter of fiscal 2020, which was in line with the estimates of market analysts, and it posted adjusted earnings per share of 79 cents, slightly more than market expectations of 77 cents.
Its net earnings increased to 885.7 million dollars from the figure of 760.6 million dollars in the previous year.
Starbucks also registered 18.9 million active members who had enrolled in its Starbucks Rewards program in the United States, representing 16 percent growth year-on-year.
"Building on solid business momentum from fiscal 2019, Starbucks performed very well throughout the first quarter, including one of the strongest holiday seasons in the history of our company," said Starbucks President and CEO Kevin Johnson.
The company expected its revenue for fiscal 2020 to increase to a range of 6 percent and 8 percent, with global same-store sales growing 3 percent and 4 percent.
