Starbucks Says More Customers Visit And Spend More

ASHLEY M. HEHER

CHICAGO (AP) — More people are visiting Starbucks Corp. coffee shops this year than last, and they're spending more money when they do, an executive said Thursday.

But it was the company's hefty cost-cutting that boosted its profit in its fiscal fourth quarter. It had fewer stores than a year earlier, and its revenue fell slightly.

Chief Financial Officer Troy Alstead said the average amount customers spent in each visit to Starbucks rose in the period. And he said sales at shops open at least a year, which dipped 1 percent, were better than the third quarter and the fourth quarter last year.

"We are seeing consumers coming in and spending and we're seeing the improvement across all parts of our day," he told The Associated Press. "We're very encouraged by what we saw in the second half of the (fiscal) year. It gives us some encouragement for the quarter coming up."

Starbucks expects its sales to rise next fiscal year. It says its sales in stores open at least a year, considered a key restaurant and retail measure, also will rise after two years of declines. The company plans to open about 300 new locations, about one-third in the United States.