Burger King Holdings Inc. Reports Fourth Quarter And Full Fiscal 2009 Results

August 25, 2009

Company Posts Strongest Net Restaurant Growth in Almost a Decade

Completes Six Consecutive Years of Positive Comparable Sales

Cash Flow from Operations up 28 Percent Compared to Prior Year

MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 25, 2009--Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE:BKC) today reported results for the fourth quarter and the full 2009 fiscal year ended June 30, 2009.

Fourth Quarter Highlights:

• Strong development growth continued with net restaurant count increasing by 115
• Worldwide comparable sales were negative 2.4 percent compared to positive 5.3 percent in the same period last year
• U.S. and Canada company restaurant margins improved 130 basis points to 13.5 percent from 12.2 percent in the same period last year
• Earnings per share were $0.43, including $0.03 per share of negative impact from currency translation, compared to $0.37 in the same period last year

Fiscal year highlights:

• Completed six consecutive years of positive comparable sales
• Worldwide comparable sales increased 1.2 percent compared to 5.4 percent in the same period last year
• Opened a net 360 restaurants, 28 percent higher than the prior year and the highest in almost a decade
• Development outside the U.S. and Canada represented over 90 percent of the net growth -- the best international development year in the history of the company
• Cash flow from operations was $310.8 million, up 28 percent compared to $243.4 million in fiscal 2008
• Reduced debt and capital leases by $59 million
• Earnings per share and adjusted earnings per share were $1.46 and $1.48, respectively, including $0.10 per share of negative impact from currency translation, compared to $1.38 in the prior year period

	Three months ended June 30,				Fiscal year ended June 30,
	2009	2008	% Change	% change excluding currency3	2009	2008	% Change	% change excluding currency 3
EPS - diluted1	$ 0.43	$ 0.37	16%	24%	24%	$ 1.38	6%	13%
Adjustments2	-	-	nm	nm	$ 0.02	-	nm	nm
Adjusted EPS - diluted1	$ 0.43	$ 0.37	16%	24%	$ 1.48	$ 1.38	7%	14%

_{¹Results include a negative impact due to the effect of currency translation of $0.03 and $0.10 per share, for the three months and fiscal year ended June 30, 2009, respectively.
²See non-GAAP reconciliations for further details.
³Management reviews and analyzes business results excluding the effect of currency translation believing this better represents the company's underlying business trends. Results excluding the effect of currency translation are calculated by translating current year results at prior year average exchange rates.
nm - not meaningful}

Revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 were $629.9 million, down 2 percent compared to the same quarter last year. For the fiscal year, the company reported revenues of $2,537.4 million, up 3 percent over the same period last year. Currency translation negatively impacted quarterly and full fiscal year revenues by $39.4 million and $110.6 million, respectively. Revenues for the full year were primarily driven by acquisitions of franchised restaurants, positive comparable sales, and a worldwide net restaurant growth rate of 3.1 percent, among the highest in the industry. Worldwide trailing 12-month average restaurant sales were $1.26 million including $55,100 of negative impact from currency translation.

Fourth quarter worldwide comparable sales were negative 2.4 percent, lapping a strong comparison of positive 5.3 percent in the same period last year. Comparable sales were pressured by adverse macro-economic conditions including higher unemployment, more consumers eating at home and heavy discounting by other restaurant chains. Negative worldwide comparable sales were partially offset by solid performance in the EMEA/APAC business segment, which posted positive comparable sales of 2.5 percent in the fourth quarter compared to 4.7 percent in the fourth quarter last year.

As economic pressures and uncertainties persisted, consumers continued to shift toward affordability. In response, EMEA/APAC offered value-driven promotions such as the King Deals ™ in Germany, U.K. and Spain, and the Latin America business segment featured the C ome Como Rey® (or Eat Like a King) everyday value menu in Mexico. In the latter half of the fourth quarter, marketing efforts in the U.S. tactically focused on value with the $1 Whopper Jr.® sandwich and local market value promotions such as 2 for $3.50 Whopper® sandwiches and 2 for $3 chicken sandwiches across many cities.

Additional marketing efforts in the fourth quarter included SuperFamily promotions such as the SpongeBob SquarePants™ 99 cent Kids Meal promotion , Pokémon™ and The Jonas Brothers tour sponsorship, advertising focused on indulgent products such as the BBQ Stackticon ™ and Steakhouse XT ™ as well as blockbuster movie-tie-ins with Star Trek™ and Transformers™ 2 .

"In the face of a continuingly challenging macro-economic environment, our business model remains strong," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Chidsey. "In fiscal 2009, we completed six consecutive years of positive comparable sales growth, achieved record revenues, generated strong cash flow from operations and increased net restaurant count by 360, our strongest development year in almost a decade."

The company continued to strategically diversify its global portfolio with 338 net restaurants opening outside the U.S. and Canada. The EMEA/APAC segment reported its best development year ever, with the EMEA region posting record openings for the fifth consecutive year, representing over half of the company's worldwide net restaurant growth. Additionally, the APAC region opened more restaurants this year than during the last four years combined. And in Latin America, the company opened 76 net new restaurants. The U.S. and Canada segment completed its second consecutive year of positive net restaurant growth with 22 net new restaurant openings.

In line with management's previous guidance, the company posted worldwide company restaurant margins of 12.5 percent in the fourth quarter and 12.6 percent for the full fiscal year, a decrease of 60 and 170 basis points, respectively, over the same periods in the prior year. During the fourth quarter, worldwide company restaurant margins benefited from lower food, paper and product costs, which were offset by higher labor costs primarily due to increased German labor costs resulting from the previously announced statutory wage and benefits increases and new labor contracts. Lower company restaurant margins in the fourth quarter as compared to the same period last year in EMEA/APAC and Latin America offset the 130 basis point improvement in company restaurant margins realized in the U.S. and Canada segment. During the year, margins were pressured by significant food cost inflation and higher labor costs, which were partially offset by strategic pricing initiatives. For the full year, commodity costs increases were in line with management's guidance provided at the beginning of the fiscal year.

During the fourth quarter, the company realized $8.6 million of other income as compared to the prior year's other expense of $7.5 million. The main driver of the differential relates to gains as a result of the company's ongoing strategic portfolio management initiative, including the re-franchising of restaurants in EMEA and Canada, aimed at further optimizing the company-owned restaurant portfolio.

Additionally during the fourth quarter, income from operations increased 7 percent to $87.7 million from $82.2 million in the prior year period. In the U.S. and Canada, income from operations was aided by company restaurant margin improvements and net restaurant growth compared to the same period last year. In EMEA/APAC, the improvement in income from operations was driven by solid comparable sales, strong net restaurant growth and the re-franchising of company restaurants in EMEA. The improvement in these segments was partially offset by negative comparable sales in the Latin America segment, primarily driven by continued adverse socio- and macroeconomic conditions in Mexico. Adjusted income from operations for the full year was $342.9 million versus $354.2 million for the prior year. Adjusted income from operations for fiscal 2009 excludes the previously announced $3.5 million in pre-tax cost related to acquisitions of franchised restaurants completed during the first half of the year. There were no adjustments to income from operations during fiscal 2008.

The fourth quarter tax rate was 21.6 percent compared to 26.7 percent in the prior year period. This quarter's tax rate benefited from the dissolution of dormant foreign entities positively impacting earnings per share by $0.07. The fourth quarter tax rate for fiscal 2008 was also lower than the normalized rate as a result of favorable conclusions of federal, state and foreign audits and dissolution of a foreign partnership, which benefited earnings per share by $0.03. For the full 2009 fiscal year, the tax rate was 29.7 percent compared to 35.3 percent in the same period last year. This year's tax rate benefited primarily from the dissolution of dormant foreign entities in the fourth quarter and from positive resolutions of federal and state tax audits earlier in the year. The company reported fourth quarter earnings per share of $0.43 including a $0.03 negative impact due to currency translation compared to $0.37 in the same quarter last year. For the full fiscal year, earnings per share and adjusted earnings per share were $1.46 and $1.48, respectively, including a $0.10 negative impact due to currency translation, compared to $1.38 in the prior year period. Net of currency translation, fiscal 2009 adjusted earnings per share grew by 14 percent. Fiscal 2009 adjusted earnings per share excludes the $3.5 million related to acquisitions as noted above. There were no adjustments to earnings per share during fiscal 2008.

Uses of Cash

"Our financial fundamentals are solid and our cash flow continues to be strong," said Chief Financial Officer Ben Wells. "In fiscal 2009, we paid down $59 million in debt and capital leases, invested $204 million -- up 14 percent over the prior year -- in our company restaurant portfolio and returned approximately $54 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends."

In fiscal 2009, the company built 52 company restaurants and completed reimaging work on 39 restaurants as part of its U.S. and Canada reimaging program bringing the total number of reimaged restaurants to 71 since the inception of the reimaging program in 2008. "As we move into fiscal 2010, we will continue our disciplined investment approach to profitably grow the brand. We expect to generate solid cash flow from operations, enabling us to further our portfolio management initiative and strategically fund our reimaging program and development plans both aimed at enhancing our guests' experience and increasing our global presence," Wells said.

Fiscal year review and looking ahead

"We experienced a difficult operating environment in fiscal 2009 with unprecedented volatile currency markets, significant commodity inflation and 25-year-high unemployment levels," Chidsey said. "In spite of these challenging macro-economic conditions adjusted earnings per share, net of currency translation, grew by 14 percent, cash flow from operations increased 28 percent to $311 million and the brand experienced the highest net restaurant growth in almost a decade. This growth is a testament to our franchisees and our employees who are committed to the brand and focused on continuous improvement across all of our strategic global growth pillars – development, products, operations and marketing."

Chidsey concluded: "As we enter into fiscal 2010, some macro-indicators suggest a stabilization of world economies is underway. However, we anticipate that the challenging consumer environment will continue due to high unemployment levels, which has resulted in a significant reduction in out-of-home eating expenditures. Our long-term strategies remain on course and we are committed to tactically respond to an ever-changing consumer dynamic. We are well-positioned to expand our global footprint, invest in our reimaging program and deliver operations excellence in our restaurants every day. Our marketing campaigns and menu options will focus on the brand equities that we believe give us a distinct competitive advantage -- flame-broiled taste, quality and size at affordable prices."

Please see guidance at the end of the document.

ABOUT BURGER KING HOLDINGS INC.

The BURGER KING® system operates more than 11,900 restaurants in all 50 states and in 73 countries and U.S. territories worldwide. Approximately 90 percent of BURGER KING® restaurants are owned and operated by independent franchisees, many of them family-owned operations that have been in business for decades. In 2008, Fortune magazine ranked Burger King Corp. among America's 1,000 largest corporations and Ad Week named it one of the top three industry-changing advertisers within the last three decades. To learn more about Burger King Holdings Inc., please visit the company's Web site at www.bk.com .

Related Communication

Burger King Holdings Inc. (NYSE: BKC) will hold its fourth quarter earnings call for fiscal year 2009 on Tuesday, August 25, at 10 a.m. EDT following the release of its fourth quarter and full fiscal year results before the stock market opens on the same day. During the call, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Chidsey; Chief Financial Officer Ben Wells; President, Global Marketing, Strategy and Innovation Russ Klein; and Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Global Communications Amy Wagner will discuss the company's fourth quarter and full fiscal year results.

The earnings call will be webcase live via the company's investor relations Web site at http://investor.bk.com and available for replay for 30 days.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain statements made in this report that reflect management's expectations regarding future events and economic performance are forward-looking in nature and, accordingly, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations about our ability to use our disciplined investment approach to profitably grow the brand; our expectations regarding our ability to generate solid cash flow from operations; our expectations regarding our fiscal 2010 performance due to the challenging consumer environment; our expectations regarding the success of our long-term strategies and our ability to tactically respond to an everchanging consumer dynamic; our belief and expectation that we are well-positioned to expand our global footprint, invest in our reimaging program and deliver operations excellence in our restaurants every day; our belief and expectation that our marketing campaigns and menu options will give us a distinct competitive advantage by focusing on flame-broiled taste, quality and size at affordable prices; our ability to deliver on our growth pillars of development, products, operations and marketing; our long-term expectations for average annual growth in worldwide comparable sales, net restaurants, revenues, G&A expense, EBITDA and EPS; our expectations regarding worldwide comparable sales and the impact of worldwide comparable sales on earnings per share during fiscal 2010; our expectations regarding net restaurant growth and the percentage of such growth outside of the U.S. and Canada in fiscal 2010; our expectations regarding the worldwide blended royalty rate in fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011; our expectations regarding our U.S. commodity basket in fiscal 2010; our assumptions regarding labor costs as a percentage of Company restaurant revenues, G&A expense, net of currency impact, depreciation expense and capital expenditures in fiscal 2010; our expectations regarding our ability to continue our on-going portfolio management initiative to optimize our Company restaurant portfolio and to enhance development agreements with new and existing franchisees in fiscal 2010; our expectations regarding our normalized effective tax rate in fiscal 2010; our belief and expectation that currency translation will have a marginally positive benefit on fiscal 2010 full year earnings; our expectations regarding reduction of debt during fiscal 2010; our expectations regarding annual stockbased compensation expense through fiscal 2010; and other expectations regarding our future financial and operational results. These forward-looking statements are only predictions based on our current expectations and projections about future events. Important factors could cause our actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forwardlooking statements.

These factors include those risk factors set forth in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual and quarterly reports, and the following:

• Economic or other business conditions that may affect the desire or ability of our customers to purchase our products such as inflationary pressures, higher unemployment rates, increases in gas prices, declines in median income growth, consumer confidence and consumer discretionary spending and changes in consumer preferences;
• Risks arising from the significant and rapid fluctuations in the currency exchange markets and the decisions and positions that we take to hedge such volatility;
• Our ability to compete domestically and internationally in an intensely competitive industry;
• Our ability to successfully implement our international growth strategy and risks related to our international operations;
• Our ability and the ability of our franchisees to manage increases in operating costs, including health care expense if Congress passes employer mandated health care, if we or our franchisees choose not to pass, or cannot pass, these increased costs on to our guests;
• Our relationship with, and the success of, our franchisees;
• The effectiveness of our marketing and advertising programs and franchisee support of these programs;
• Risks related to franchisee financial distress due to issues arising with their Burger King® restaurants or losses from other businesses, which could result in, among other things, restaurant closures, delayed or reduced payments to us of royalties and rents and increased exposure to third parties, such as landlords;
• The ability of our franchisees to refinance their business or to obtain new financing for development, restaurant remodels and equipment initiatives on acceptable terms or at all;
• Risks related to disruptions and catastrophic events, including disruption in the financial markets, war, terrorism and other international conflicts, public health issues such as the H1N1 flu pandemic, and natural disasters, and the impact of such events on our operating results;
• Risks related to food safety, including foodborne illness and food tampering, and the safety of toys and other promotional items available in our restaurants;
• Risks related to the loss of any of our major distributors, particularly in those international markets where we have a single distributor, and interruptions in the supply of necessary products to us;
• Our ability to execute on our reimaging program in the U.S. and Canada to increase sales and profitability;
• Our ability to implement our growth strategy and strategic initiatives given restrictions imposed by our senior credit facility;
• Risks related to the ability of counterparties to our secured credit facility, interest rate swaps and foreign currency forward contracts to fulfill their commitments and/or obligations;
• Risks related to interruptions or security breaches of our computer systems and risks related to the lack of integration of our worldwide technology systems;
• Our ability to continue to extend our hours of operation, at least in the U.S. and Canada, to capture a larger share of both the breakfast and late night dayparts;
• Changes in consumer perceptions of dietary health and food safety and negative publicity relating to our products;
• Our ability to retain or replace executive officers and key members of management with qualified personnel;
• Our ability to utilize foreign tax credits to offset our U.S. income taxes due to continuing losses in the U.K. and other factors and risks related to the impact of changes in statutory tax rates in foreign jurisdictions on our deferred taxes and effective tax rate;
• Our ability to realize our expected tax benefits from the realignment of our European and Asian businesses;
• Our ability to manage changing labor conditions in the U.S. and internationally;
• Adverse legal judgments, settlements or pressure tactics; and
• Adverse legislation or regulation.

These risks are not exhaustive and may not include factors which could adversely impact our business and financial performance. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for our management to predict all risk factors, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. We do not undertake any responsibility to update any of these forward-looking statements to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations.

Guidance

The company remains committed to its long-term plan for creating significant value for its stakeholders. The company, however, is not providing specific earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2010 due to continuing consumer uncertainties. Assuming no material impact from currency translation, the company expects to achieve over the long-term:

• Average annual worldwide comparable sales growth of 2 to 3%
• Average annual net restaurant growth of 3 to 4%
• Average annual revenue growth of 6 to 7%
• Average annual EBITDA growth of 10 to 12%
• Average annual EPS growth of 15%

The company is providing the following information to help assist in forecasting fiscal 2010 results:

• Worldwide comparable sales are expected to be soft in the first half of the fiscal year, improving in the second half if consumer sentiment improves as economists forecast, as our affordability messages resonate with consumers and as we lap softer comparable sale comparisons.
• Softer comparable sales are expected primarily in the U.S., Germany and Mexico markets, three of our largest markets, partially offset by expectations for solid comparable sales in the U.K., Spain, and throughout most of Europe and in many Asia Pacific markets.
• Assuming no change in cost structure, one percentage point increase in worldwide comparable sales would increase earnings per share by approximately $0.05.
• Net restaurant growth is estimated at 250 to 300 for fiscal 2010; this is below long-term guidance primarily due to delayed commercial construction as the result of on-going global economic pressures.
• Eighty to 90% of the net restaurant growth will be outside of the U.S. and Canada.
• The worldwide blended royalty rate is forecasted to remain unchanged from the level attained in fiscal 2009 of 4.05% primarily due to the end of royalty escalations related to an early remodel incentive program. The forecasted five to seven annual basis point improvement in the royalty rate is expected to resume in fiscal 2011.
• The company's U.S. commodity basket is expected to improve in the first half of the fiscal year as compared to the prior year and be up slightly year-over-year in the second half. For the full fiscal year, the U.S. commodity basket is forecasted to be flat to slightly better as compared to the previous year.
• Labor costs, as a percentage of company restaurant revenues, are expected to remain unchanged from fiscal 2009. Benefits from the lapping of the statutory and contractual German wage and benefits increases in fiscal 2009, will be offset by statutory wage increases in the U.S., Canada and Spain in fiscal 2010.
• G&A, net of currency impact, is forecasted to be up 2 to 3% over the prior year.
• The company is expected to pay down $62.5 million of senior debt during fiscal 2010 in equal quarterly installments of $15.6 million.
• Depreciation expense is expected to increase 10 to 15 percent as capital expenditures have increased in support of the company's development plans and reimaging initiative.
• The company expects to continue its on-going portfolio management initiative to optimize its company restaurant portfolio and to enhance development agreements with new and existing franchisees. Gains and losses incurred as a result of this activity will be reflected in Other Operating Income and Expense, net.
• Our normalized effective tax rate in fiscal 2010 is estimated to be 36.0%, primarily dependent upon movements in currency. Full year fiscal 2009 effective tax rate of 29.7% benefited primarily from the resolution of federal and state audits and tax benefits realized from the dissolution of dormant foreign entities, which positively benefited earnings per share by $0.12.
• Capital expenditures for fiscal 2010 are expected to be in the range of approximately $175 - $200 million depending on company performance and related cash flows from operations. About 30% will be used to build new company restaurants; 25% to fund the company's U.S. and Canada reimaging program; 35% to be used in other existing restaurants, including routine repairs and maintenance and 10% will be allocated for other corporate purposes, including information technology.
• If currency rates approximate current levels, currency translation is expected to have a marginally negative impact in the first quarter of negative $0.01 to $0.02 per share, with an offsetting marginally positive impact for the balance of the fiscal year. At current rates, the currency translation impact for the full fiscal year would be essentially neutral.