Starbucks sales improve but store closures and layoffs take a bite out of profits

Starbucks reported better-than-expected revenue in its fiscal fourth quarter as its U.S. sales improved.

The Seattle-based company said Wednesday its net revenue rose 5% to $9.6 billion in the July-September period. That was better than the $9.3 billion Wall Street was expecting, according to analysts polled by FactSet.

Starbucks' global same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, rose 1% compared to the same period a year ago. It was the first time in seven quarters that the company posted an increase in same-store sales.

That increase was largely due to markets outside North America, where same-store sales rose 3%. In North America and the U.S., same-store sales were flat. But that was still an improvement from the third quarter, when U.S. same-store sales fell 2%.

But the improvement comes at a cost. Starbucks said its profit fell 85% in the fourth quarter to 12 cents per share as it carried out a $1 billion restructuring aimed at underperforming stores.

The company announced last month that it was laying off 900 non-retail employees and closing hundreds of stores. On Wednesday, Starbucks said it closed 627 stores as part of that restructuring; 90% of them were in North America.

Adjusted for one-time items, including its restructuring costs, Starbucks said it earned 52 cents per share in the fourth quarter. That was lower than the 56-cent profit analysts had forecast, according to FactSet.