Asia's sales boost Starbucks' profits in second quarter

Coffee chain now claims 61% of China market

Starbucks Corp - the dominant coffeehouse chain in China's growing coffee market - posted a 26 percent jump in second-quarter profits and raised its full-year earnings outlook, helped by strong sales growth in China and Asia Pacific.

Sales at stores open at least a year rose 8 percent in the region. However, operating earnings remained flat and the profit margin shrank as the United States-based company, whose specialty coffee drinks are popular with China's increasingly wealthy upper and middle class, spent to step up new cafe openings in what has become one of its key segments.