Earnings up at Tim Hortons

OAKVILLE—Tim Hortons brand name is as strong as its profit. 

The coffee and doughnut chain made $91 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, a 32 per cent increase from the $69 the company earned the year before.

Overall last year, Tim’s earned $296 million, 4.1 per cent more than in 2008, on revenues of $2.24 billion.

Fourth quarter revenues are up just over nine per cent, to $615 billion, an increase from the $564 million Tim’s earned in 2008.

The company said same-store sales jumped by 3.4 per cent in Canada in the fourth quarter.

“Canadian same-store sales accelerated in each consecutive month of the quarter, and experienced continued momentum heading into the first quarter,” the company said, in a statement. 

 Tim’s opened 60 restaurants in Canada in the fourth quarter and another seven in the United States, where same-store sales increased by 2.1 per cent in the fourth quarter.