Starbucks sees Covid-19 trimming up to 25% of China 2020 sales

Bloomberg

Starbucks Corp has opened almost all its locations in China, but still sees the lingering impact of the coronavirus pandemic trimming same-store sales there by 15% to 25% this fiscal year. The shares fell in late trading.
Same-store sales fell 10% globally in the company’s second quarter, slightly outpacing the average estimate for a 9.7% decline compiled by Consensus Metrix. The measure — a key gauge of success for restaurant chains — fell 50% in China, which along with the US is a priority market for the company.
With the US likely following China’s path to reopening, but on a delayed timeline, 2020 increasingly is looking like a lost year for the company.
Since the pandemic started to affect US sales only at the end of the quarter that ended in late March, impact on third-quarter results will be “significantly greater” and extend into the fiscal fourth quarter “at a more moderate level.”
The company has said it will take a store-by-store approach to resuming business activity in the US, with locations remaining limited to drive-thru, delivery and takeout activities.
Starbucks said this plan will draw on the company’s experiences in China, where 98% of stores are now re-opened
and operating under modified schedules or protocols.
One silver lining is that the Seattle-based company said its loyalty rewards programme hit 19.4 million active members — an increase of 15% from a year earlier.
Starbucks shares fell less than 1% to $78 in late trading on April 28.