The 2,400 new stores that Starbucks plans to open this year willinclude about 1,700 in the US, with 1,000 of them to becompany-operated and 700 planned as licensed locations. Theinternational tally of 700 stores will include 300 company-operatedand 400 licensed locations.

Starbucks executives outlined growth plans and discussed therecord results in a conference call with financial analystsThursday. The company reported that quarterly earnings rose 18% to$151 million and 19 cents per share, compared with $127 million and16 cents per share for the comparable quarter a year ago. Salesclimbed 20% to $2.3 billion as the company opened 560 new retailoutlets during the quarter, and same store sales grew 4%. Thecompany attributed the increase in comparable store sales to a 3%increase in the average value per transaction and a 1% increase inthe number of customer transactions.

Jim Donald, Starbucks president and CEO, noted that thecompany's international sales played a significant role during thequarter, with that segment's revenue increasing by 30%. He citedthe company's previously described goal "to build a solid globalfoundation" because Starbucks, which is now in 39 countries, seesbig potential in overseas markets.