US doughnut maker Krispy Kreme Doughnuts has reported net income for the fourth quarter to 2 February of US$11.3m, compared to $7.7m in the year-ago period.
Net income for the quarter, including a pre-tax charge of $9.1m relating to an arbitration award against the company, was $5.6m compared with $8.3m for the year-ago period.
On a comparable 13-week quarter basis, systemwide sales, including sales of both company and franchise stores, increased 25.9% to $213.3m in the fourth quarter, compared with $169.4m in the comparable year-earlier 13-week period.
Sales on this comparable quarter basis were driven by an increase in company store sales of 30.8% to $91.7m and an increase in franchise store sales of 22.4% to $121.6m.
Commenting on the fourth quarter sales momentum, Scott Livengood, chairman, president and CEO of Krispy Kreme said, “This has been a year of extraordinary weather patterns, from the unprecedented heat and drought of this summer, to the record levels of rain, ice and snow in many parts of the country in the fourth quarter. For the coming year, in the absence of these extreme conditions, I am confident we will return to a systemwide sales growth rate of approximately 30%.”
Net income for the company’s fiscal year to 2 February, before the arbitration award, increased 51.6% to $39.1m compared with $25.8m a year ago. Including the arbitration charge, net income was $33.5m, a 24.8% increase over the previous year.
Krispy Kreme expects to open 77 new factory stores in 17 new markets during the coming year. Additionally, the company plans to open ten other units, a combination of doughnut and coffee shops and/or satellite format stores.
