Dunkin' Brands Inc., parent of the Dunkin' Donuts chain and Baskin-Robbins ice cream shops, said Wednesday that its annual profit fell 23 percent as the costs of refinancing debt offset its sales growth.

The privately held chain of more than 16,000 franchised restaurants said its net income slipped to $26.9 million from $35 million. Dunkin' Brands' fiscal year ended Dec. 25.

Dunkin' Brands' revenue, excluding the portion that franchisees keep, rose 7 percent last year to $577.1 million from $538 million, the company said. Total sales rose nearly 7 percent to $7.7 billion last year.

In November, Dunkin' Brands completed a refinancing that included a $1.25 billion term loan and $625 million in senior notes. It used the proceeds to repay in full the company's outstanding securitization debt and related refinancing expenses and to pay shareholders a cash dividend.

The Canton, Mass.-based company said it recorded a nearly $62 million charge for costs related to extinguishing debt.

Chief Financial Officer Neil Moses said recent steps to re-price and re-allocate Dunkin Brands' debt will reduce annual interest expenses by about $26 million.

A consortium of private equity firms acquired the company in 2006 for $2.4 billion from French spirits maker Pernod Ricard SA.

The company said sales at U.S. locations open at least a year rose 1.6 percent in 2010 from 2009. Dunkin' Donuts locations reported a 2.3 percent increase in that key comparison in the U.S., offsetting a 5.2 percent drop at the Baskin-Robbins chain in the U.S.

Franchisees and licensees opened 574 new Dunkin' Donuts locations last year for a global total of 9,760. There were 226 new Baskin-Robbins shops, for a total 6,433.

Dunkin' Brands operates in 52 countries, and announced plans last month to open more than 500 Dunkin' Donuts locations in India over the next 15 years.