Starbucks profits rise 16 percent

Starbucks Corp. said Wednesday that its fiscal third-quarter profits jumped 16 percent as it opened a record number of coffee houses and boosted its target for new store openings in the coming years.

For the 13 weeks ended July 2, the Seattle-based coffee retailer posted net earnings of $145.5 million, or 18 cents per share, up from $125.5 million, or 16 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the latest quarter increased to $1.96 billion, up from $1.60 billion last year.

The results, released after the market closed, beat the consensus forecast of analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial — 17 cents per share on revenue of $1.96 billion — but only because of a one-time tax benefit of a penny per share.

The company said comparable store sales — those at stores open at least a year — rose 4 percent, lower than some analysts had projected, however.

The company said it plans to open 2,000 new stores worldwide in fiscal 2006, up from 1,800 it had previously forecast, and 2,400 in fiscal 2007.

•Time Warner Inc. swung to a $1 billion profit in the second quarter and released details Wednesday of a long-anticipated plan to offer many AOL services such as e-mail for free.

The company said the revamp, which gets underway next month, wouldn’t hurt earnings this year. That assurance relieved investors. AOL will slash marketing costs for its waning dial-up service even as subscribers continue to leave.

Any expectation that the turnaround would require a “hit” to AOL earnings “is not right,” Jeff Bewkes, Time Warner’s chief operating officer, told analysts on a conference call.

•Automaker BMW AG said Wednesday that its second-quarter net profit climbed by more than 17 percent as new models powered a healthy rise in sales.

The Munich-based company said it earned 787 million euros ($1 billion) in the April-June period, compared with 670 million euros a year earlier. That exceeded the forecast of 684 million euros ($873 million) of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

Sales rose 8 percent to 13.19 billion euros ($16.8 billion) from 12.16 billion euros, with the new 3-Series sedan and station wagon models leading demand.

The expected increase includes the 350 million euro ($447 million) gain BMW got when it reduced its stake in aircraft-engine maker Rolls-Royce PLC in the first quarter.

BMW cautioned that high prices for raw materials will note slow growth.