As the chairman and chief executive officer of Dunkin’ Brands Group describes it, “2014 was a mix of disappointments and significant achievements.” The company reported below-expectations growth in profit and revenue for the fiscal year and has lowered its outlook for 2015.
“We learned a lot and made some changes to our plans,” said Nigel Travis, the company’s top executive, during a Feb. 5 conference call with analysts. “As indicated with our 2015 guidance, we expect that we will be slightly behind some of our long-term growth targets this year as well.”
For the year ended Dec. 27, 2014, Dunkin’ Brands had net income of $176.4 million, equal to $1.67 per share on the common stock, up 20% from $146.9 million, or $1.38 per share, for the prior fiscal year. Revenues totaled $748.7 million, up 4.9% from $713.8 million the year before.
Fourth-quarter net income advanced 25% to $52.5 million, which compared with $42.1 million for the same quarter of the previous year as a result of a $7.5 million increase in operating income and a $3.1 million decrease in interest expense. Revenues rose 5.5% to $193.2 million from $183.2 million for the comparable quarter.