A Tim Hortons restaurant in Old Montreal. Photo by: Phil Carpenter, Gazette
Robert Gibbens writes in The Gazette that Tim Hortons Inc. said Friday it is boosting restaurant prices in Quebec and the Maritimes next month to offset higher operating costs.
The fast-growing franchise chain has 2,971 units in Canada and another 556 in the United States.
The increases will range from five to seven cents for a cup of coffee. Hortons said its franchisees are facing higher prices for coffee beans and higher minimum wages in some regions. It raised coffee prices in its Ontario restaurants last month by about five cents a cup.
In the third quarter ended September 27, Hortons had revenue of $564 million, up 10.7 per cent from a year earlier, and earnings of $61.2 million or 34 cents a share, down 22 per cent from a year earlier, partly because of costs incurred for becoming an independent listed Canadian company.
Sales at restaurants open at least a year rose 3.1 per cent in Canada and 4.3 per cent in the United States.
