The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, February 20, 2015

Article Excerpt

RESTAURANT BRANDS INTERNATIONAL INC., $52.21, Toronto symbol QSR, took its current form on December 12, 2014, as a result of Burger King Worldwide’s (old symbol BKW) acquisition of Tim Hortons Inc. (old symbol THI). Restaurant Brands is the world’s third-largest fast-food chain, after McDonald’s and Yum Brands, with 14,372 Burger King outlets and 4,671 Tim Hortons locations in 100 countries. In the three months ended December 31, 2014, the company lost $514.2 million, or $2.52 a share, compared to a profit of $66.8 million, or $0.19 (all amounts except share price in U.S. dollars). If you exclude merger costs and other unusual items, gross earnings before depreciation, interest and taxes rose 23.1%. Overall sales jumped 57.0%, to $416.3 million from $265.2 million a year earlier. Same-store sales rose 4.1% at Tim Hortons and 3.0% at Burger King. Brazilian private equity firm 3G Capital now owns 51% of Restaurant Brands. 3G has considerable experience acquiring and running food and beverage companies. It also cuts costs…