Despite the 2.4 per cent decline in revenue for the April-through-June period, the nation's number two burger chain still managed to top Wall Street profit estimates thanks to its cost-cutting efforts in the United States, the company said Tuesday.

That sent shares up more than 10 per cent before falling back later in the session.

For the three months that ended June 30, Burger King earned US$58.9 million, or 43 cents per share. That compares with a profit of US$50.6 million, or 37 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Pretty solid result

Revenue dipped to US$629.9 million, down from US$645.7 million.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected the Miami-based restaurant chain to earn 33 cents per share on revenue of US$632 million.

"Overall, we view this as a pretty solid result, particularly relative to low expectations going in," Deutsche Bank analyst Jason West told investors in a research note.

Around the globe, same-store sales, or sales at locations open at least a year, slid 2.4 per cent in the quarter - less than expected.

The decline was even steeper in North America, where sales in restaurants open at least a year fell 4.5 per cent, because of the combination of a poor economy and high unemployment that caused more customers to try to save money by eating out less and dining more at home.

Despite the same-store sales figures - which were worse than number 1 rival McDonald's Corp, which said same-store sales rose 4.8 per cent globally and 3.5 per cent in the US during the most recent quarter - executives said customer traffic was showing promising signs of improvement reaching a low in May.

"We're saying the U.S. has gotten better month by month," said Chairman and CEO John Chidsey. " ... That's four months in a row of continuous improvement on the traffic front."

- AP