BJ's Restaurants, Inc. Second Quarter Revenues Up 16%

BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ:BJRI) today reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2008 that ended on July 1, 2008.

Highlights for the second quarter were as follows (compared to the same quarter last year):

- Revenues increased approximately 16% to $92.2 million

- Comparable restaurant sales increased 0.6%, successfully hurdling a 7.5% increase in the same quarter last year

- Net income and diluted net income per share were $2.9 million and $0.11, respectively

- Four new restaurants were opened during the quarter

- 2008 restaurant expansion plan remains solidly on track

'Our leadership team was pleased with our solid overall financial results for the second quarter, particularly after considering the conditions in the macro environment and a difficult quarterly comparison to overcome,' commented Jerry Deitchle, Chairman and CEO. 'Not only did we achieve a positive comparable sales comparison for the quarter, we also achieved a slight sequential quarterly improvement in estimated four-wall restaurant operating cash flow margins while doing our best to navigate through the continuing challenges of the overall environment for consumer spending and the costs of key inputs to our operations. Additionally, our diluted net income per share comparison for the quarter was impacted by approximately $0.03 per share due to asset disposal costs related to selected restaurant remodels in the current quarter, as well as reduced amounts of interest and other income compared to the same quarter last year.'

'Our 0.6% increase in comparable restaurant sales for the quarter successfully hurdled a 7.5% increase for the same quarter last year, which also represented our strongest quarterly comparable sales comparison since fiscal 2004,' said Deitchle. 'Additionally, BJ's positive comparable restaurant sales metric for the second quarter compares favorably to the estimated 1.1% decrease in comparable restaurant sales for the June quarter according to the Knapp-Track(TM) industry data for casual dining.'

'So far this year, we have successfully implemented many of our planned 2008 key sales-building initiatives which include curbside cashiering service, call-ahead seating service, expanded delivery service, new lunch specials, enhanced happy hour programs and additional print media support for our new menu entrées,' said Deitchle. 'During the second half of this year, we plan to promote our new online ordering service, new menu entrées, an updated wine program and our new seasonal beers which are all scheduled to be rolled out later this year. In this tough environment, we will continue to drive BJ's top-of-mind awareness and reinforce our points of quality differentiation with our consumers.'

The Company opened four new restaurants during the second quarter of 2008 in Orlando, Florida, Indianapolis, Indiana, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Torrance, California. Three of these four new restaurants were opened in the latter half of the quarter. The Company continues to target as many as 15 new restaurant openings in total during 2008, of which six have opened as of the end of the second quarter. The Company currently expects to open as many as five new restaurants in the third quarter (of which two have already opened), and as many as four new restaurants in the fourth quarter. The actual timing of restaurant openings is inherently difficult to precisely predict and is subject to a number of factors outside of the Company's control, including factors that are under the control of the Company's landlords, municipalities and contractors.

Reader Comments:

Be the first to leave a comment for this article