Caribou Coffee 3Q Net Up 12.5%

Caribou Coffee Inc. said growth along its three major lines of business — coffeehouses, franchise revenue and consumer packaged goods — drove a 12.5-percent increase in net income for the third quarter ended Oct. 2.

For the quarter, Caribou recorded net income of $1.8 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with $1.6 million, or 8 cents per share, a year earlier.

Total revenue rose $11.2 million, or 16.1 percent, to $81.4 million, compared with revenue of $70.2 million a year earlier. That result reflected a 4.1-percent increase in same-store sales, which Caribou said resulted primarily from its efforts to expand food offerings with breakfast sandwiches and grilled cheese sandwiches during the lunch daypart.

Commercial sales soared 75.5 percent to $19.8 million in the third quarter, compared with $11.3 million a year earlier, thanks to growth in consumer packaged-good sales in grocery stores, single-serving Keurig cup sales and sales in other foodservice channels.

Franchise sales increased to $3 million, reflecting 24 more franchised locations open since the year-earlier third quarter, Caribou said.

"We are extremely pleased with our third-quarter performance, not only from a financial standpoint, but through the strategic execution that drives those results and builds our brand," said president and chief executive Mike Tattersfield.

"Our multichannel business model is the catalyst of our success and is driving synergistic benefits across our company," he said. "We're also excited that we have activated another growth lever and opened three company-owned stores in the third quarter, our first openings in over three years."

The chain also had three net openings in its franchised side of the business.

Minneapolis-based Caribou Coffee operates 409 coffeehouses and franchises another 150 locations in 20 states, the District of Columbia, and nine international markets.

Contact Mark Brandau at mark.brandau@penton.com.
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