Strong Sales See Krispy Kreme Share Jump

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Krispy Kreme see their biggest rise in two years as revenues at the doughnut retailer jump 9%.

Overall revenue was up 9.0% to $132.5m for the first quarter ending 3 May, with the bulk of this improvement being driven by its US stores.

Sales at its US outlets climbed 5.2%, trouncing analyst expectations and sparking a buying frenzy for its shares.

Krispy Kreme’s shares climbed 13.9% to $19.81 on Thursday in New York, the biggest one-day gain for the doughnut chain since May 2013.

Krispy Kreme now operates 1,003 stores worldwide, up 17.3% against the same quarter last year.

Boss Tony Thompson sees no signs of this growth slowing. He said: "Internationally we signed agreements in Cambodia, Guatemala, and South Africa as part of our goal to enter a total of six new countries this year."

Although this performance is in stark contrast to McDonald's sales released earlier this week .

In spite of Thursday's strong performance Krispy Kreme shares remain 11.7% lower than at the start of the year.