Adds analyst comments in paragraphs 4 and 6; CEO comment in paragraph 8
By Juveria Tabassum and Waylon Cunningham
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Restaurant Brands QSR.TO, QSR.N beat fourth-quarter profit and sales estimates on Wednesday, as promotions boosted performance at Burger King while Tim Hortons benefited from steady demand for its Double Double and Iced Capp coffee.
Burger King's attractive offers on its popular Whopper burgers and value meals helped it report a rise in U.S. comparable sales for the quarter.
Fast food giant McDonald's MCD.N, which also offered value deals to attract price-conscious customers, however, reported its biggest comparable sales decline in the U.S. earlier this week, citing an E. coli outbreak in late October.
Burger King and Wendy's saw some share gain during the period as a result, said Jim Sanderson, analyst at Northcoast Research.
U.S. comparable sales at Burger King grew 1.5% in the quarter, compared with a 0.4% fall in the prior quarter, while McDonald's U.S. same-store sales fell 1.4%.
Burger King balanced its promotions "prudently with incentives to increase spend per visit for consumers," which drove comparable sales growth in the quarter, said Danilo Gargiulo, analyst at Bernstein.
Restaurant Brands' Tim Hortons chain, which accounts for a little less than half of the company's total revenue, has benefited from steady demand for its coffee with quarterly revenue growing about 1%.
Though coffee prices are at record highs, and eggs are pricier due to a bird flu outbreak, these commodity costs are unlikely to cause "very high inflation" for the company, CEO Joshua Kobza told Reuters.
Restaurant Brands' fourth-quarter revenue of $2.30 billion beat analysts' average estimate of $2.28 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Its quarterly adjusted profit per share of 81 cents also topped expectations.
Shares of the company were flat in morning trading. They had risen about 4% premarket after the results.
(Reporting by Juveria Tabassum in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
((Juveria.Tabassum@thomsonreuters.com;))
Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.