Buffets, Inc. Announces Record Third Quarter.EDEN PRAIRIE Eden Prairie A city of eastern Minnesota, a residential suburb of Minneapolis. Population: 57,300. , Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 1999-- Clark C. Grant, Senior Vice President of Finance and Treasurer of Buffets, Inc. (NASDAQ NASDAQ in full National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations U.S. market for over-the-counter securities. Established in 1971 by the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), NASDAQ is an automated quotation system that reports on : BOCB), reported that the quarter ended October October: see month. 6, 1999, was the most profitable third quarter in the history of the Company. For the third quarter (12 weeks) of 1999, net earnings increased 9.0% to $11,377,000 from $10,435,000 in the third quarter of 1998. Basic earnings per share for the quarter increased 17.4% to $.27 on 42,147,000 shares, compared to $.23 on 45,393,000 shares in 1998. Diluted earnings per share diluted earnings per share An earnings measure calculated by dividing net income less preferred stock dividends for a period by the average number of shares of common stock that would be outstanding if all convertible securities were converted into shares of for the quarter increased 18.2% to $.26 on 46,165,000 shares compared to $.22 on 49,987,000 shares in the third quarter of 1998. Restaurant sales for the quarter increased 7.5% to $222,720,000 from $207,128,000 for the third quarter in 1998. Average weekly sales increased during the quarter by 4.0% to $47,953 from $46,087 in 1998. Comparable restaurant sales were up 2.5%. For the forty-week period of 1999, net earnings increased 5.6% to $33,688,000 compared to net earnings of $31,894,000 in 1998. Basic earnings per share increased 11.4% to $.78 on 43,094,000 shares from $.70 on 45,448,000 shares in the same period of 1998. Diluted earnings per share increased 11.9% to $.75 on 47,003,000 shares compared to $.67 on 49,977,000 shares in the first forty weeks of 1998. Restaurant sales for the forty-week period increased 8.2% to $723,595,000 from $668,536,000 in the same period of 1998. Average weekly sales per restaurant increased during the first forty weeks by 2.5% to $46,674 from $45,549 for the same period in 1998. Comparable restaurant sales were up 2.0%. Commenting on the third quarter, Roe H. Hatlen, Buffets' Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "Buffet's performance during the third quarter demonstrates the power of our Buffet A buffet is a meal serving system where patrons serve themselves. It is a popular method of feeding large numbers of people with minimal staff. The term is also used to describe a sideboard, an antique form of furniture which was sometimes used to offer the dishes of a buffet meal brands and our multi-concept chain expansion. Our ninth consecutive quarter of same store sale increases and our seventh consecutive quarter of record earnings reinforces the strategy which we put in place in 1997 to strengthen our restaurant operations, grow our restaurant sales and increase our Company's profitability. "During the third quarter we expanded our television coverage to 269 restaurants or 72% of our buffet brands, including for the first time the restaurants' in our Philadelphia Philadelphia, ancient cities Philadelphia, name of several ancient cities. One was in Lydia, W Asia Minor (now W Turkey). At the foot of Mt. Tmolus and near the location of modern Alaşehir, it was founded in the 2d cent. B.C. market. Investment in television marketing coupled with our Community Marketing program have been important catalysts in growing restaurant sales. Our ongoing program of remodeling remodeling /re·mod·el·ing/ (re-mod´el-ing) reorganization or renovation of an old structure. bone remodeling approximately 60 restaurants a year has also served to stimulate sales and create a freshness and excitement in our restaurants. "Our buffet development strategy has been focused primarily on baiencies needed to begin television advertising. For the year, we expect to open approximately ten buffet restaurants. Six of these units have already opened, including our first small market prototype restaurant in Waterloo, Iowa Waterloo is the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 68,747. It belongs to the Cedar Falls-Waterloo Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the larger of the two cities, by population. , which enjoyed a very strong opening. This small prototype and its reduced cost allow us to consider markets that would not otherwise support a full-sized full-sized adj [portrait etc] → grandeur nature inv full-sized full adj → lebensgroß full-sized adj [ buffet. "Our Original Roadhouse road·house n. An inn, restaurant, or nightclub located on a road outside a town or city. roadhouse Noun a pub or restaurant at the side of a road Noun 1. Grill Grill may refer to: In food:
v. re·lo·cat·ed, re·lo·cat·ing, re·lo·cates v.tr. To move to or establish in a new place: relocated the business. v.intr. . We now operate ten Original Roadhouse Grills. Our eleventh In music or music theory an eleventh is the note eleven scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the eleventh. Since there are only seven degrees in a diatonic scale the eleventh degree is the same as the subdominant and the interval Original Roadhouse Grill will open in Minneapolis Minneapolis (mĭn'ēăp`əlĭs), city (1990 pop. 368,383), seat of Hennepin co., E Minn., at the head of navigation on the Mississippi River, at St. Anthony Falls; inc. 1856. in November November: see month. and will be our first Midwest Midwest or Middle West, region of the United States centered on the western Great Lakes and the upper-middle Mississippi valley. It is a somewhat imprecise term that has been applied to the northern section of the land between the Appalachians unit. We are pleased with the development of these high volume units and are also looking forward to the opening of our third Tahoe Ta·hoe , Lake A lake on the California-Nevada border west of Carson City, Nevada. It is a popular resort area. Joe's Joe's, known as G.I. Joe’s prior to April 1 2007, is a sporting goods and auto parts retailer dealer based in Oregon. The Wilsonville, Oregon based company has 26 stores in Oregon and Washington. The company is planning on opening two stores in Idaho in 2007. restaurant in January. "During the quarter we repurchased 240,000 shares of Buffets, Inc. stock and have now repurchased a total of 3,786,000 shares for $41.5 million. The Company is authorized au·thor·ize tr.v. au·thor·ized, au·thor·iz·ing, au·thor·iz·es 1. To grant authority or power to. 2. To give permission for; sanction: to repurchase re·pur·chase tr.v. re·pur·chased, re·pur·chas·ing, re·pur·chas·es To buy (something) again. n. The act of buying something that one previously sold or owned. Noun 1. up to an additional $38.5 million of the Company's common stock. "In conclusion, we continue to be excited about the opportunities before us as we grow this Company yet are mindful mind·ful adj. Attentive; heedful: always mindful of family responsibilities. See Synonyms at careful. mind that this is a very competitive restaurant environment. Our operational and financial strengths continue to put us in an enviable en·vi·a·ble adj. So desirable as to arouse envy: "the enviable English quality of being able to be mute without unrest" Henry James. position to capitalize on Cap´i`tal`ize on` v. t. 1. To turn (an opportunity) to one's advantage; to take advantage of (a situation); to profit from; as, to capitalize on an opponent's mistakes s>. opportunities that come our way." Buffets, Inc. currently operates 391 restaurants (251 Old Country Buffet Old Country Buffet is a buffet-style, sit-down restaurant chain headquartered in Eagan, Minnesota with locations throughout the United States. Menu Items Old Country Buffet restaurants feature a wide spread of menu items, in the following categories: Its wide selection of food include pizza, hot dogs, hot wings, sliced ham among many others. (R), 10 Original Roadhouse Grill(SM), 3 Country Roadhouse Buffet & Grill(SM) and 2 Tahoe Joe's Famous Steakhouse(R)) in 37 states and franchises 24 restaurants (5 Old Country Buffet and 19 HomeTown Buffet) in ten states. This press release contains forward-looking statements forward-looking statement A projected financial statement based on management expectations. A forward-looking statement involves risks with regard to the accuracy of assumptions underlying the projections. including statements regarding expected restaurant development levels, placement strategies, marketing plans and the potential success of the Company's restaurant concepts. In addition to the factors discussed above, other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include changes in the cost and supply of food and labor, weather conditions, health and regulatory developments and general economic conditions. In addition, the ability of the Company to open new restaurants depends on a number of factors, including its ability to find suitable locations and negotiate acceptable leases and land purchases, its ability to attract and retain qualified restaurant managers and the availability of capital. These and other factors are discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including its Annual Report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. for the fiscal year ended December 30, 1998, including the sections captioned "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors." The Company assumes no obligations to publicly release the results of any revisions or updates to these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or unanticipated occurrences. http://www.buffet.com -0-
Buffets, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Results of Operations
(Unaudited)
Forty Weeks Ended
(In thousands, except for per share amounts and average weekly sales)
October 7, October 6,
1998 Percent 1999 Percent
--------- ------ ----------- -------
Restaurant sales $668,536 100.0% $723,595 100.0%
Restaurant costs:
Food costs 215,511 32.2% 228,503 31.6%
Labor costs 201,353 30.1% 224,088 31.0%
Direct and occupancy costs 154,741 23.2% 163,159 22.5%
--------- ------ ----------- -------
Total restaurant costs 571,605 85.5% 615,750 85.1%
--------- ------ ----------- -------
Restaurant profits 96,931 14.5% 107,845 14.9%
Selling, general and
administrative expenses 46,472 7.0% 54,030 7.4%
Other site closing costs 200 1,966 0.3%
--------- ------ ----------- -------
50,259 7.5% 51,849 7.2%
Other income (expense) 1,395 0.2% 2,539 0.3%
--------- ------ ----------- -------
Earnings before income taxes 51,654 7.7% 54,388 7.5%
Income taxes 19,760 2.9% 20,700 2.8%
--------- ------ ----------- -------
Net earnings $31,894 4.8% $33,688 4.7%
========= ====== =========== =======
Earnings per share:
Basic $0.70 $0.78 11.4%
========= ===========
Diluted $0.67 $0.75 11.9%
========= ===========
Weighted average common shares
assumed outstanding:
Basic 45,448 43,094
Diluted 49,977 47,003
Number of Company-owned
restaurants open at
end of period 379 387 2.1%
Average weekly sales of
Company-owned restaurants
open at end of period $45,549 $46,674 2.5%
Buffets, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Results of Operations
(Unaudited)
Twelve Weeks Ended
(In thousands, except for per share amounts and average weekly sales)
October 7, October 6,
1998 Percent 1999 Percent
-------- ------ ---------- --------
Restaurant sales $207,128 100.0% $222,720 100.0%
Restaurant costs:
Food costs 65,482 31.6% 68,970 31.0%
Labor costs 62,664 30.3% 69,012 31.0%
Direct and occupancy costs 47,903 23.1% 50,229 22.5%
-------- ------ ---------- -------
Total restaurant costs 176,049 85.0% 188,211 84.5%
-------- ------ ---------- -------
Restaurant profits 31,079 15.0% 34,509 15.5%
Selling, general and
administrative expenses 15,017 7.2% 16,145 7.2%
Other site closing costs 818 0.4%
-------- ------ ---------- -------
16,062 7.8% 17,546 7.9%
Other income (expense) 698 0.3% 856 0.4%
-------- ------ ---------- --------
Earnings before income taxes 16,760 8.1% 18,402 8.3%
Income taxes 6,325 3.1% 7,025 3.2%
-------- ------ ---------- --------
Net earnings $10,435 5.0% $11,377 5.1%
======== ====== ========== ========
Earnings per share:
Basic $0.23 $0.27 17.4%
======== ==========
Diluted $0.22 $0.26 18.2%
======== ==========
Weighted average common shares
assumed outstanding:
Basic 45,393 42,147
Diluted 49,987 46,165
Number of Company-owned
restaurants open at
end of period 379 387 2.1%
Average weekly sales of
Company-owned restaurants
open at end of period $46,087 $47,953 4.0%
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet
(Unaudited)
(in thousands)
December 30, October 6,
1998 1999
------------ ----------
Assets
Current assets $121,944 $120,725
Property and equipment (net) 334,582 341,295
Goodwill (net) 8,507 9,001
Other assets 1,816 6,491
------------ ----------
$466,849 $477,512
============ ==========
Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity
Current liabilities $93,711 $102,064
Long-term debt 42,289 41,465
Minority interest 271
Deferred income 37
Deferred income taxes 31,124 30,797
Stockholders' equity 299,725 302,878
------------ ----------
$466,849 $477,512
============ ==========
|
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion