020905 Wendy's and Tim Hortons Reports Positive Sales

Dublin, OH - Wendy's International, Inc. announced that its positive sales trends continued in August.

For period 8, ended on September 1:

* Same-store sales increased 3.3% at Wendy's(R) U.S. company restaurants.

* Same-store sales increased 6.7% at Tim Hortons(R) restaurants in Canada, and 8.4% at U.S. restaurants.

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jack Schuessler said: "We maintained good momentum at Wendy's with positive sales and margin expansion at our Company units and even stronger same-store sales growth at our Wendy's franchise stores and at Wendy's in Canada. We achieved our sales growth even though national competitors focused on discounting promotions during the past month. Furthermore, we were in a local marketing pillar in August versus a national campaign during the same period a year ago.

"Looking ahead, I am optimistic about the rest of the year as we have national advertising planned virtually every week through Christmas focusing on our quality food, our 99 cents everyday Super Value Menu(TM) and promotional sandwiches," Schuessler said.

"At Tim Hortons, our focus on restaurant operations, service initiatives and a Timbits(R) promotion in August delivered good sales results in Canada and in our U.S. markets," Schuessler added.

Tim Hortons will be entering its newest U.S. market -- Rochester, N.Y. -- in mid September with four new restaurants and a strong local advertising program to establish the brand.

Company expects 15-18% EPS growth in 2002, and repurchases common shares

Management reiterated its 2002 EPS growth goal of $1.90 to $1.95, a 15% to 18% increase over $1.65 in 2001. The Company's long-term goal for annual EPS growth continues to be in the 12% to 15% range.

"Our overall revenue growth continues to be strong and we are effectively controlling costs," said Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Kerrii Anderson. "Profit flow through this year at the corporate level and at the restaurant level for Wendy's and Tim Hortons has been excellent."

The Company recently began repurchasing its common shares after announcing on August 8, 2002, that it may repurchase up to $25 million of its common shares in the open market during the remainder of the year. Over the past month, the Company has repurchased 246,000 common shares for $8.6 million. From 1998 through the end of 2001, the Company repurchased 33.1 million common shares for $779 million.

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