Rubio's Restaurants, Inc. Reports First Quarter 2008 Results

Rubio's(R) Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:RUBO) today announced financial results for the 13-week first quarter ended March 30, 2008.

First Quarter Results

• Revenues rose 2.9% to $42.2 million from $41.0 million for the 13-week quarter in 2007.

• Comparable store sales decreased 3.3%.

• Net loss was $(745,000) as compared to net income of $196,000 for the same quarter last year.

• Earnings per share was a loss of $(0.07) per share as compared to earnings per share of $0.02 for the same quarter last year.

• Restaurant operating margins (see definition below) were 13.7% as compared to 15.3% for the same quarter last year. As a percentage of restaurant sales, restaurant labor decreased by 30 basis points, however, cost of sales increased by 50 basis points and restaurant occupancy and other costs rose by 140 basis points, due to higher advertising, rent and utilities costs.

• Pre-opening expense increased to $219,000 as compared to zero for the same quarter last year, due to the opening of 7 restaurants thus far in 2008 as compared to none during the first five months of 2007.

• General and administrative expenses were $4.6 million in the first quarter of 2008 compared to $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2007. The increase in the 2008 quarter is primarily due to the addition of senior executives, legal costs and $139,000 in costs associated with our decision to cancel our plans to build restaurants on sites that included four in developing trade areas in Northern California. These sites were located in trade areas that were experiencing rapid growth prior to the sub-prime mortgage crisis, however, that growth has been severely curtailed by the slow down in housing.

• Adjusted EBITDA (see table below) decreased 50.1% to $1.4 million from $2.8 million for the same quarter last year.

• Average unit volumes for the trailing 52 weeks were $1,026,000 as compared to $1,002,000 for the same quarter last year.

"Our first quarter results are indicative of the overall challenging macroeconomic environment, and in particular, higher gasoline prices and the weak housing markets in Arizona, Nevada and parts of California. Over the past several months, we have undergone a vigorous assessment of the opportunities to better leverage our resources and gain efficiencies in our cost structure, while continuing to focus on delivering unique products and an unsurpassed guest experience. Notably, we reduced our corporate support staff by just over 10% at the end of April and have several initiatives underway to lower food and labor costs while maintaining the integrity of our brand. We believe this balanced approach will better position us to achieve our profit goals in the near term and still execute our longer term strategy," said Dan Pittard, Rubio's President and CEO.

"We continue to focus on mature trade areas and look for attractive long-term opportunities in the softening real estate market. We've opened 7 restaurants in 2008 and currently have 3 more under construction, which puts us well on our way to meeting our 2008 growth target. While these economic times are tough, I remain optimistic about Rubio's longer term success and will be seeking to gain share with new units."

                          RUBIO'S RESTAURANTS, INC.

               CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

                    (in thousands, except per share data)

                                 (unaudited)



                                               For the Thirteen Weeks Ended

                                              March 30, 2008   April 1, 2007





  RESTAURANT SALES                               $42,121            $40,946

  FRANCHISE AND LICENSING REVENUES                    40                 33

  TOTAL REVENUES                                  42,161             40,979



  COST OF SALES                                   12,286             11,761

  RESTAURANT LABOR                                13,868             13,583

  RESTAURANT OCCUPANCY AND OTHER                  10,202              9,325

  GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES              4,557              3,849

  DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION                    2,259              2,207

  PRE-OPENING EXPENSES                               219                  0

  ASSET IMPAIRMENT AND STORE CLOSURE

   REVERSAL                                          (91)                 0

  LOSS ON DISPOSAL/SALE OF PROPERTY                  104                 18



  OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)                         (1,243)               236

  OTHER INCOME, NET                                    1                103



  INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES               (1,242)               339

  INCOME TAX BENEFIT (EXPENSE)                       497               (143)



  NET INCOME (LOSS)                                $(745)              $196



  BASIC EPS DATA

          EPS                                     $(0.07)             $0.02



          AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING               9,950              9,793



  DILUTED EPS DATA

          EPS                                     $(0.07)             $0.02



          AVERAGE SHARES OUTSTANDING               9,950              9,833







                                                Percentage of Total Revenues

                                                For the Thirteen Weeks Ended

                                              March 30, 2008   April 1, 2007



  TOTAL REVENUES                                  100.0%             100.0%



  COST OF SALES (1)                                29.2%              28.7%

  RESTAURANT LABOR (1)                             32.9%              33.2%

  RESTAURANT OCCUPANCY AND OTHER (1)               24.2%              22.8%

  GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES              10.8%               9.4%

  DEPRECIATION AND AMORTIZATION                     5.4%               5.4%

  PRE-OPENING EXPENSES                              0.5%               0.0%

  ASSET IMPAIRMENT AND STORE CLOSURE

   REVERSAL                                        -0.2%               0.0%

  LOSS ON DISPOSAL/SALE OF PROPERTY                 0.2%               0.0%

  OPERATING INCOME (LOSS)                          -2.9%               0.6%

  OTHER INCOME, NET                                 0.0%               0.3%

  INCOME (LOSS) BEFORE INCOME TAXES                -2.9%               0.8%

  INCOME TAX BENEFIT (EXPENSE)                     -1.2%               0.3%

  NET INCOME (LOSS)                                -1.8%               0.5%



  (1) As a percentage of restaurant sales







                    CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

                                (in thousands)





                                            March 30, 2008 December 30, 2007

                                               (unaudited)



  CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS                       $1,589             $3,562

  OTHER CURRENT ASSETS                            11,108             11,663

  PROPERTY - NET                                  42,708             40,916

  LONG-TERM INVESTMENTS                            3,143              3,069

  OTHER ASSETS                                    12,606             11,858

  TOTAL ASSETS                                   $71,154            $71,068



  CURRENT LIABILITIES                            $18,633            $18,199

  OTHER LIABILITIES                                8,844              8,794

  STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY                            43,677             44,075

  TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS'

   EQUITY                                        $71,154            $71,068

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