Business
Restaurant Brands earnings top estimates, fueled by Tim Hortons and international growth
A general view of a Tim Hortons Drive-Thru coffeehouse and restaurant at Lakeside Retail Park on February 5, 2024 in Grays, United Kingdom.
John Keeble | Getty Images
Restaurant Brands International on Thursday reported quarterly earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ expectations, fueled by growth of its international restaurants and Tim Hortons.
Combined, the two divisions account for roughly 70% of the company’s earnings, according to CEO Josh Kobza.
Like many restaurants, the company has seen low- and middle-income consumers spend less on dining in recent quarters. Diners didn’t change their behavior in the third quarter, but executives credited sticking to their strategy and avoiding the so-called value wars for the company’s strong quarterly performance, particularly at Burger King’s U.S. restaurants.
“If you look at our results, we’re doing well despite some of those trends,” Kobza told CNBC.
Here’s what the company reported compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Earnings per share: $1.03 adjusted vs. $1 expected
- Revenue: $2.45 billion vs. $2.4 billion expected
Restaurant Brands reported third-quarter net income attributable to shareholders of $315 million, or 96 cents per share, up from $252 million, or 79 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding transaction costs and other items, the company earned $1.03 per share.
Net sales rose 6.9% to $2.45 billion. The company’s same-store sales, which only track the metric at restaurants open at least a year, grew 4%.
Restaurant Brands’ international segment was the star of the quarter, reporting 6.5% same-store sales growth. That topped the StreetAccount consensus estimate of 4.4%. The company’s restaurants in Western Europe, China and Japan fueled the segment’s same-store sales growth, Kobza told CNBC.
Tim Hortons reported same-store sales growth of 4.2%. The Canadian coffee chain has been leaning more into food offerings to drive sales and traffic at its restaurants. Executives also said an improved iced latte is driving sales of cold drinks, which grew 10% in the quarter.
Burger King’s same-store sales increased 3.1%, showing that the chain’s turnaround strategy in the U.S. is paying off for the business. Burger King has focused on restaurant renovations and marketing based on core menu items like the Whopper to revive domestic sales. The remodeled restaurants are paying off for franchisees as well, which is lifting operators’ profitability, according to Burger King U.S. President Tom Curtis.
Looking ahead, the burger chain is planning to lean into “product elevation,” Curtis said in an interview.
“I think that’s important in an environment where you hear a lot about shrinkflation, and you hear a lot about cost cutting. So for us, we’re going to be zigging while others are zagging,” he added.
Popeyes was the only Restaurant Brands division to report same-store sales declines. The chicken chain saw its same-store sales shrink 2.4%. In recent quarters, it has struggled to keep up with rivals, particularly when it comes to competition for value-minded customers.
“I think what we want to focus on in the coming quarters is making even more progress on the operational side, in terms of the consistency of the guest experience that we’re delivering across the store base,” Kobza said.
Looking ahead, executives said Popeyes will also focus more on its core menu items after spending much of the last year highlighting innovations, like bone-in chicken wings.
Business
Prices Of Imported Agricultural Goods Rise Amid Strong US Dollar in S. Korea
New Delhi: The prices of major imported agricultural goods in South Korea have risen sharply in recent years, outpacing global price increases due to the weakening of the South Korean won against the US dollar, data showed on Sunday.
According to the Bank of Korea, the import price index for coffee came to 307.12 in November in U.S. dollar terms and 379.71 in Korean won terms, with 2020 set as the base year at 100, reports Yonhap news agency.
The figures indicate that global coffee prices have risen about threefold over the past five years but increased nearly fourfold when converted into the Korean won. The data showed that the price of imported beef increased 30 percent over the period in U.S. dollar terms but surged 60.6 percent in Korean won terms.
Over the same period, the price of imported pork rose 5.5 percent in U.S. dollar terms but jumped 30.5 percent in Korean won terms. The Korean won traded at around the 1,100-won level in 2021 before weakening into the upper 1,200-won range in 2022. In the fourth quarter of 2025, the average exchange rate stood at 1,450 won per dollar.
The price of imported fresh seafood fell 11 percent in terms of U.S. dollars but rose 10 percent in Korean won, reflecting the impact of currency depreciation, the data also showed. South Korea imports a lot of raw materials, such as sugar and flour, said Choi Chul, a professor of consumer economics at Sookmyung Women’s University.
As the price of domestically produced (agricultural products) are rising due to climate change, a hike in imported goods due to the foreign exchange rate will push up overall food prices, including processed products, Chul added.
Business
Elon Musk Hits $700 Billion Net Worth, Surpasses Combined Wealth Of Next Three Richest People
Last Updated:
Musk becomes the first person to surpass $700 billion net worth after a US court reinstates his Tesla compensation package, placing him far ahead of Larry Page and Larry Ellison.
Elon Musk’s wealth crosses $700 billion. (Photo Credit: X)
Elon Musk Net Worth: Tech billionaire Elon Musk continues to accumulate record-breaking wealth unabated and has created history by becoming the first individual ever to cross a net worth of $700 billion. His wealth surged after a US court reinstated his long-pending compensation package linked to electric-vehicle maker Tesla, according to Reuters. Following the ruling, Musk’s estimated net worth jumped to about $749 billion, firmly placing him at the top of the global rich list.
The scale of Musk’s lead over other billionaires is unprecedented. The second-richest person in the world, Larry Page, has a net worth of around $252.6 billion, while third-ranked Larry Ellison is worth about $242.7 billion. This means Musk is richer by nearly $500 billion than the person just below him. In simple terms, Musk’s net worth is equal to the combined net worth of the next three richest people in the list – Larry Page, co-founder of Google, Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle, and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
Why Is Musk Wealth Rising?
This extraordinary jump in wealth came after the Delaware Supreme Court restored stock options from Musk’s 2018 pay package that had earlier been cancelled by a lower court. Those options are now valued at roughly $139 billion, far higher than the original estimate of $56 billion when the deal was first approved. The court said the earlier ruling that scrapped the package was unfair and wrong, reversing a 2024 judgment that had described the deal as “unfathomable”.
Musk’s wealth rose so sharply mainly because his compensation is almost entirely linked to company performance rather than salary. As Tesla’s market value expanded dramatically over the years, the value of Musk’s stock options multiplied. Once the court restored these options, the impact on his net worth was immediate and massive. Unlike many other billionaires, Musk’s fortune is heavily concentrated in shares, which makes it more volatile but also capable of extreme upside.
Musk’s Mega Empire
Earlier, Musk’s wealth hit $600 billion mark after the rocket company he founded launched a tender offer valuing the firm at $800 billion, up from $400 billion in August, according to two of the company’s investors speaking to Forbes. With Musk owning roughly 42% of SpaceX, this valuation boost increased his fortune by $168 billion.
The dramatic jump in Musk’s net worth is largely tied to SpaceX’s latest valuation. The company is targeting an initial public offering in 2026 that could see it valued at around $1.5 trillion, one investor told Forbes. Even without an IPO at that scale, Musk’s estimated $336 billion stake in SpaceX now ranks as his most valuable asset.
Musk also holds a 53% stake in xAI Holdings, valued at an estimated $60 billion by Forbes. The company is reportedly in discussions to raise funds at a $230 billion valuation, more than double the $113 billion valuation Musk assigned when he merged his AI startup xAI with X in March.
December 21, 2025, 09:19 IST
Read More
Business
Supply ‘too reliant’ on one asset, says South East Water boss
Fiona Irving,South East environment correspondentand
Craig Buchan,South East
BBCThe boss of South East Water has said the company is too dependant on individual facilities after a six-day supply failure affected thousands of people in Kent.
About 24,000 properties in and around Tunbridge Wells had no or low pressure tap water from 29 November until supplies returned to most on 4 December. For the next nine days, residents were told to boil the restored tap water before consumption.
A disinfection problem at Pembury Water Treatment Works had caused the failure but there was no evidence supply became infected, said South East Water.
The water company’s chief executive, David Hinton, said the firm was “just too reliant in some areas on one asset”.
Mr Hinton was speaking to the BBC earlier in the week and said the company wants to “do more” at a separate works at Bewl Water reservoir, near Wadhurst in East Sussex, and spend £30m on expanding output capacity.
The proposal would give the company the ability to “rapidly fill the area of Tunbridge Wells, for example, as soon as we see any issue”, said Mr Hinton.
He said this would allow “extra resilience should any other challenges hit any other treatment works” without further draining the reservoir.
“It’s not only for Tunbridge Wells, it’s for the wider parts of Kent as well,” added the chief executive, who has faced calls to resign over the supply issues.
South East Water was one of five companies to contest regulator Ofwat’s latest price controls, which already allowed it to increase an average annual bill from £232 to £274 by 2030.
The firms argued the 36% average price increase for customers in England over the next five years was not enough to deliver better infrastructure.
The Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally agreed that South East Water can increase bills by an extra 4%, pending a final decision in 2026.
Mr Hinton said the Bewl Water proposal was a reason why the company was asking the competition regulator to allow it to raise more money from customers.
South East Water suspects “something to do with the level” of water at its Pembury reservoir contributed to the supply failure but the firm wants to “do a full investigation”, he said.
The company introduced hosepipe restrictions in July for Kent and Sussex customers after dry weather earlier in 2025.
The Drinking Water Inspectorate said it was investigating the Tunbridge Wells loss of supply incident.
-
Business1 week agoHitting The ‘High Notes’ In Ties: Nepal Set To Lift Ban On Indian Bills Above ₹100
-
Business6 days agoStudying Abroad Is Costly, But Not Impossible: Experts On Smarter Financial Planning
-
Business6 days agoKSE-100 index gains 876 points amid cut in policy rate | The Express Tribune
-
Sports6 days agoJets defensive lineman rips NFL officials after ejection vs Jaguars
-
Tech7 days agoFor the First Time, AI Analyzes Language as Well as a Human Expert
-
Business1 week agoIPO Explained: Meaning, Process, Benefits, Risks
-
Tech3 days agoT-Mobile Business Internet and Phone Deals
-
Business3 days agoBP names new boss as current CEO leaves after less than two years
