Starbucks profit climbs but revenue falls short

NEW YORK Starbucks (SBUX) says it profit rose in its fiscal first quarter as customers stepped up spending at its cafes in the U.S. and Asia, but its revenue fell short of expectations.

The Seattle-based coffee chain says global sales at cafes open at least a year rose 6 percent, reflecting an increase in traffic and spending per visit. The figure is a key metric because it strips out the impact of newly opened and closed locations. In Europe, the figure fell 1 percent.

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For October-to-December period, Starbucks earned $432.2 million, or 57 cents per share. That's compared with $382.1 million, or 50 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Revenue rose 11 percent to $3.8 billion.

Analysts expected a profit of 57 cents per share on revenue of $3.85 billion.