Starbucks Shutters 2,000 China Branches in Face of Coronavirus Threat

The coffee chain has almost 4,300 outlets in China, making it the company’s largest market outside the U.S. and it has warned the rapidly expanding virus is likely to affect its financial performance.

Starbucks chief executive Kevin Johnson said Tuesday the firm was “navigating a very dynamic situation,” the BBC reports.

The firm told Wall Street analysts it had been planning to adjust its annual profit forecasts after a better-than-expected first quarter performance but decided against changing its projections due to the virus.

Starbucks’ disclosure about its China shutdowns comes at a time of nervousness about the financial implications of the coronavirus, which originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan and multiplied throughout the country and abroad.