EARNINGS

STARBUCKS 2ND-QUARTER NET RISES ON MORE STORES, DESSERTS

Starbucks Corporation, the largest American chain of coffee shops, said second-quarter earnings climbed 27% as it expanded in Asia and added more desserts. The company raised its profit forecast for the year. Net income rose to $100.5 million, or 24 cents a share, from $78.9 million, or 19 cents, a year earlier, Seattle-based Starbucks said yesterday in a statement. Sales in the quarter that ended April 3 climbed 22% to $1.52 billion, the smallest gain in two years. Starbucks expanded in China, where it now has more than 300 locations, and added stores in smaller domestic markets including Utah and West Virginia. Sales at older stores were helped by the introduction of items such as espresso-flavored brownies and a chocolate drink. “Their new stores are very successful,” said Robert Bender, of Robert Bender & Associates, which manages $230 million including 300,000 Starbucks’ shares. “Their foreign stores are starting to break even, and they can expand in China, India, and Eastern Europe. They have been successful in pushing non-coffee items in the stores.” Net income met the 24-cent average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.The company raised its annual earnings forecast by 2 cents to $1.17 to $1.19 a share.The forecast excludes costs of expensing stock options.

– Bloomberg News

FOREIGN

IT FLIES! BUT WILL THE GIANT AIRBUS A380 SELL?

BLAGNAC, France – Among the hordes of spectators watching the world’s largest passenger plane take flight was one holding a banner that read: “Fly Baby, Fly.”

And fly it did. The question now is: Will it sell?

After its first test flight Wednesday, the Airbus A380 touched down with puffs of smoke from its 22 outsize wheels, the screech of rubber on asphalt drowned by cheering from an estimated 30,000 onlookers around Blagnac’s airport.

Plane enthusiasts were everywhere in this part of southwestern France. Many camped overnight in a rock-festival atmosphere, and whole families applauded the superjumbo’s faultless takeoff and landing with passion.

“There is nothing comparable to this in the universe,” said Jean-Claude Antoine, 60, a retired plumber, perched on a hill overlooking the airstrip outside Toulouse – the same tarmac where the now-retired supersonic Concorde embarked on its own maiden voyage 36 years ago.

The A380’s four-hour sortie past the snowcapped Pyrenees removed any doubt that the behemoth capable of carrying as many as 840 passengers is airworthy. But it did little to convince skeptics, led by rival Boeing, that the plane will prove profitable. Airbus has orders for 154 superjumbos and has said it needs 100 more to recover its investment. But the weak dollar – the currency in which passenger planes are sold – and rumors of heavy discounts on the A380’s $282 million sticker price have fueled reports that the real break-even may be higher.

– Associated Press