Burger King parent firm reports higher sales

The recently created parent company of Burger King and Tim Hortons reported first-quarter financial results that topped Wall Street forecasts Monday based on sharply higher sales at the two fast-food brands.

Restaurant Brands International (QSR) said system wide sales increased 9.6% at Burger King and 8.1% at its Tim Hortons doughnuts-and-coffee chain during the three months that ended March 31.

The earnings results were the first since the December close of the $11 billion merger that shifted the corporate control of Burger King to Ontario, Canada and created the world's third-largest fast-food chain.

Investors nonetheless sent Restaurant Brands' shares down 2.36% to a $40.59 close in Monday trading.

Total revenues for the combined firms more than doubled, rising to $932 million from $240.9 million for the same period last year. Earnings per share excluding some items were 18 cents, three cents higher than expected by financial analysts.

"We are off to a strong start in 2015, having achieved one of our best quarters of comparable sales growth in years for both of our iconic brands," Restaurant Brands CEO Daniel Schwartz said in a statement issued with the earnings results.

The company declared a 10-cent dividend per common share.

Burger King's first-quarter sales growth was largely driven by new products and promotions, including the "$2 for $5" platform and the Spicy BLT Whopper sandwich, the company said. Burger King also revived its promotion of lower-priced chicken nuggets in January, responding to similar efforts by rival McDonalds.

First-quarter sales strength at Tim Hortons resulted from the company's recent launches of Dark Roast coffee and Crispy Chicken Club Sandwich, Restaurant Brands International reported.

The Burger King-Tim Hortons merger represented one in a recent series of so-called corporate tax inversions, transactions designed to reduce U.S.-based firms' future taxes by shifting their corporate headquarters to other countries.

The companies moved forward with the deal despite new Department of the Treasury rules in September that made such corporate tax inversion transactions more difficult to execute and potentially less profitable.