Investing.com -- Shares in Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc (NYSE:KKD) surged more than 5% in after-hours trading, after one of the world's largest doughnut companies reported a 10.5% increase in net income over the first quarter.
Krispy Kreme, which saw its systemwide store count spike by more than 17% over the first quarter to move above 1,000 worldwide, grew revenues by 9% during the period to $132.5 million. While the global doughnut chain beat earnings forecasts of 0.22 per share (0.24 EPS) during the period, it narrowly missed analysts' expectations for revenue of $136 million on the quarter.
Krispy Kreme CEO Tony Thompson attributed the productive quarter to strong domestic same store sales, which increased by 5.2%. The company's international sales, however, decreased by 1.7% over the three-month period.
“Solid domestic same store sales growth and improved margin performance at our Company shops enabled us to exceed our internal projections for the first quarter, providing us a strong start to the fiscal year," Thompson said in a statement. "Guests continued to respond favorably to our limited time offerings. This, combined with our more strategic use of promotional incentives, drove the higher profitability.”
The company's Board of Directors previously authorized a repurchase plan of 391,300 shares for a cost of $7.4 million. During the quarter, the company said it settled $5.9 million of the plan.
For the year, the company anticipates opening 10-12 new company shops, 15-20 domestic franchise shops and 95-110 new international franchise shops.
“We recently signed development agreements for new domestic shops in Arkansas, Montana, Illinois and Kentucky, while internationally we signed agreements in Cambodia, Guatemala, and South Africa as part of our goal to enter a total of six new countries this year," Thompson said. "We continue to believe that Krispy Kreme is positioned well for earnings and cash flow growth and our intention is to return a portion of that to shareholders through on-going share repurchases.”
Shares in Krispy Kreme gained 0.92 or 5.29% in after-hours to 18.32.