Burger King, best known for its Whopper hamburgers, said net income rose to $50 million, or 36 cents per share, in its fiscal first quarter, ended September 30, from $49 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding costs tied to buying 72 franchise restaurants, Burger King earned 38 cents per share, missing analysts' average expectation of 39 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares in the company fell in a handful of trades pre-market.

Total revenue rose 12 percent to $674 million. Sales at stores open at least a year were up 3.6 percent worldwide, with a 3 percent increase in the United States and Canada.

Burger King, which has more than 11,500 restaurants worldwide, has been sprucing up older eateries, extending hours and adding value-menu items to catch up with rivals like McDonald's Corp and Yum Brands Inc , the parent of the Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC fast-food chains.

The entire restaurant industry has been squeezed by high commodity costs, but fast-food companies have been hesitant to raise prices, since their customers are hard hit by a weak U.S. economy.

Burger King said, however, it has seen a significant drop since the end of July in the prices for many ingredients, such as beef, cheese and oil.

At Burger King, total restaurant margins in the quarter fell to 12.6 percent, from 15.3 percent a year ago, hurt by high commodity costs and expenses tied to remodeling outlets.

The company maintained its full-year outlook, which calls for 2009 earnings of $1.54 to $1.59 per share.

"Going forward, we expect earnings will benefit from already moderating food and energy costs," Chief Executive John Chidsey said in a statement.

Chidsey said an expected increase in sales from its remodeled restaurants and the elimination of acquisition costs would also add to its bottom line.

The company said it will stick with it plan to open 350 to 400 new restaurants in fiscal 2009.

(Reporting by Aarthi Sivaraman; Editing by Derek Caney and Steve Orlofsky)