Starbucks has cited political and social unrest in the US and abroad as contributing factors to the company missing earning targets for the third quarter in a row.

It referred to the quarter as an "anomaly" and said that instability and terror threats affected the firm's performance, Starbucks also said that there has been a "profound weakening in consumer confidence" among its customers.

Chief Executive Howard Schultz said, "In Starbucks’s 24 years of public life, I can’t recall a quarter quite like [this one]" in a conference call discussing the results.

"I think we have a situation where you have a very uncertain [US] election, you have domestic civil unrest with regard to race, and I think the issues around terror have created a level of anxiety - so we are no longer looking at just an economic downturn, there are a number of things that we are facing as citizens and I think the direction of the country," he continued.

The company's shares experienced a 3% fall in after-hours trading following the publication of the results.

Starbucks returned an overall profit of $754m - up from $626.7m 12 months ago. During the quarter like-for-like sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa fell by 1%. These regions were expected to deliver growth of 2.8%.

The firm had projected sales growth of at least 10% in 2016.

Its immediate plans include investment in mobile ordering and payment services to make its stores more efficient.