(Bloomberg) -- Restaurant Brands International Inc., which owns the Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes fast-food chains, has named a new chief executive officer, Joshua Kobza, effective March 1.

Kobza has been chief operating officer since January 2019 and has held senior roles with the company since 2012. Current CEO Jose Cil will remain with the company for a year to help with the transition.

Restaurant Brands also announced fourth-quarter adjusted earnings per share that missed estimates. Earnings were 72 cents in the quarter, while analysts estimated 74 cents. Higher costs and economic uncertainty are still a problem for restaurants.

Burger King’s comparable-sales growth of 8.4% was below the analyst estimate of 8.9%. The company and its franchisees have been working to remodel Burger King locations across the US, with investments in marketing and digital. The results show that these efforts have yet to pay off.

“The one that needs the most work right now is Burger King in the US,” said J Patrick Doyle, the company’s chairman, in an interview with Bloomberg TV. Though the chain’s results were “not as good as we want to be,” Doyle said results are “going in the right direction.”

Doyle said that Restaurant Brands is on track to keep opening new Popeyes, Tim Hortons and Firehouse Sub chains abroad, adding that costs for key food items such as beef, chicken and coffee are easing significantly. 

“I think that we’re in pretty good shape from a pricing standpoint,” Doyle added.

The quarter’s results “provided a good starting point for a turnaround, though we see risk for beef inflation to weigh on franchise profitability,” wrote Cowen analysts led by Andrew Charles.

Restaurant Brands fell 2.9% at 3:30 p.m. in New York. 

(Updates shares, adds chairman’s comments from Bloomberg TV interview and analyst comment.)

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