Marie Heitmeyer blog

Starbucks forecast takes hit from coffee costs

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Starbucks Corp forecast full-year earnings below analysts' expectations as the company expects rising coffee prices to hit profits more than it previously thought.

The world's largest coffee chain said it now expects earnings of $1.43 to $1.47 a share for fiscal year 2011, compared with the average analyst expectation of $1.49 a share. The company expects commodity costs to cut earnings by about 20 cents a year, compared with a forecast of 8 cents to 10 cents a share in November.

For the fiscal first quarter ended January 2, profit was $346.6 million, or 45 cents a share, up from $241.5 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts, on average, were looking for a profit of 39 cents per share for the latest quarter, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Sales at Starbucks cafes open at least 13 months were up 8 percent in the United States and up 5 percent internationally for the holiday quarter, which traditionally is Starbucks' biggest for revenue.

Starbucks shares were down 2 percent at $32.40 in after-hours trading.

(Additional reporting by Brad Dorfman; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)