Del Taco Restaurants, Inc. Reports Fiscal Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Del Taco Restaurants, Inc., (NASDAQ: TACO), the second largest Mexican-American quick service restaurant chain by units in the United States, today reported fiscal third quarter 2018 financial results. The Company also updated its guidance for fiscal year 2018.

Fiscal Third Quarter 2018 Highlights

• System-wide comparable restaurant sales grew 1.4%, marking the 20th consecutive quarter of gains;
  • Company-operated comparable restaurant sales grew 0.3%, marking the 25th consecutive quarter of gains. Company-operated comparable restaurant sales growth was comprised of average check growth of 2.9%, partially offset by a transaction decrease of 2.6%;
  • Franchised comparable restaurant sales grew 3.0%;
• Total revenue increased 6.2% to $117.8 million (including $3.2 million of franchise advertising contributions and $0.2 million of other franchise revenue required as part of the new revenue recognition rules adopted in the fiscal first quarter whereby the offsetting impact is an increase to expenses such that there is no impact on operating income and net income) compared to $111.0 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017;
• Company restaurant sales increased 3.1% to $109.6 million compared to $106.3 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017;
• Net income was $5.9 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, compared to $5.1 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017, or $0.13 per diluted share;
• Adjusted net income* was $6.0 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, compared to $5.1 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017, or $0.13 per diluted share;
• Restaurant contribution* margin increased 70 basis points to 19.9% compared to 19.2% in the fiscal third quarter 2017; and
• Adjusted EBITDA* increased 6.4% to $17.7 million compared to $16.6 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017.

Adjusted net income*, Restaurant contribution*, and Adjusted EBITDA* are non-GAAP measures and defined below under “Key Financial Definitions”. Please see the reconciliation of non-GAAP measures accompanying this release.

John D. Cappasola, Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of Del Taco, commented, “During the quarter we made strategic progress led by the launch of Elevated Combined Solutions which furthers our mission to be the leader in the value oriented QSR+ segment. We again experienced strong franchise comparable restaurant sales trends demonstrating our strengthening franchise system which supports brand portability. We remained focused on strengthening our great culture with the launch of our company values and our new advertising campaign centered on real employees. And, despite soft company-operated comparable restaurant sales, our effective margin management strategy helped us deliver an improved restaurant contribution margin after adjusting for the favorable timing of advertising expenses.”

Cappasola continued, “Although the new $1 Chicken Quesadilla Snacker did not support check or transaction trends during the third quarter, our flexible barbell menu strategy allowed us to quickly pivot to mid-tier and premium products which achieved an immediate improvement in menu mix. As we enter the fourth quarter our plan to generate transaction momentum includes the launch of Shredded Beef as a limited time offer, which has already sequentially improved our trends, and premium innovation with a new Triple Meat Epic Burrito. Still, we have opted to take a more cautious approach to our fiscal year outlook and have therefore updated our annual guidance.”

Cappasola concluded, “Next month, we will launch our Del Taco mobile app and begin offering delivery in the Los Angeles market through GrubHub, followed by a system-wide launch in 2019 that will include partnerships with Postmates and DoorDash. We believe delivery will provide another convenient channel to enjoy our fresh, high quality food and that moving toward a multiple delivery service provider approach will position us to maximize consumer demand.”

Review of Fiscal Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results

Total revenue increased 6.2% to $117.8 million (including $3.2 million of franchise advertising contributions and $0.2 million of other franchise revenue required as part of the new revenue recognition rules adopted in the fiscal first quarter whereby the offsetting impact is an increase to expenses such that there is no impact on operating income and net income) compared to $111.0 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017. Excluding these revenue recognition impacts, total revenue increased 3.1%.

Comparable restaurant sales increased 1.4% system-wide, resulting in a 5.5% increase on a two-year basis. The Del Taco system has now generated comparable restaurant sales growth for 20 consecutive quarters. Company-operated comparable restaurant sales increased 0.3%, marking 25 consecutive quarters of comparable restaurant sales growth. Franchise comparable restaurant sales increased 3.0%, reflecting the strength of our system across a diverse geographic footprint.

Net income was $5.9 million, representing $0.15 per diluted share, compared to $5.1 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017, representing $0.13 per diluted share.

Adjusted net income* was $6.0 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, compared to $5.1 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017, or $0.13 per diluted share.

Restaurant contribution* was $21.8 million compared to $20.4 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017. As a percentage of Company restaurant sales, restaurant contribution margin increased approximately 70 basis points year-over-year to 19.9%. The increase was the result of an approximate 90 basis point decrease in food and paper costs and a 40 basis point decrease in occupancy and other operating expenses, which was due to the timing of advertising expenses, offset by an approximate 60 basis point increase in labor and related expenses.

Adjusted EBITDA* increased 6.4% to $17.7 million compared to $16.6 million in the fiscal third quarter 2017.

Restaurant Portfolio

During the fiscal third quarter 2018, we opened two company-operated restaurants and three franchised restaurants and closed three company-operated restaurants and one franchised restaurant. We also purchased three restaurants from franchisees.

Thus far in the fiscal fourth quarter 2018, we have opened two company-operated restaurants and there are currently 17 restaurants (eleven franchised and six company) under construction, of which 13 to 16 are expected to open this fiscal year.

Repurchase Program for Common Stock and Warrants

During the fiscal third quarter 2018, we repurchased 235,041 shares of common stock at average price of $12.74 per share for a total of $3.0 million, and repurchased 5,972 warrants at an average price per warrant of $3.07. At the end of the fiscal third quarter approximately $38.1 million remained under our $75 million repurchase authorization.

Updated Fiscal Year 2018 Guidance

We are updating our guidance for fiscal year 2018, which is a 52-week period ending January 1, 2019.

• System-wide same store sales growth of approximately 3% (previously 2% to 4%);
• Total revenue between $504 million and $507 million (previously $506 to $516 million), reflecting the new revenue recognition rules adopted in the first fiscal quarter whereby franchise advertising contributions and other franchise revenue, which totaled $12.7 million and $0.8 million in fiscal year 2017, respectively, will now be reported on a gross basis. This guidance also includes an estimated $0.5 million unfavorable impact from the timing of initial franchise fees and renewal fees which must be deferred and recognized over the term of the related franchise agreement;
• Total company-operated restaurant sales between $470 million and $473 million (previously $473 to $483 million);
• Restaurant contribution margin between 19.3% and 19.5% (previously 19.3% to 19.8%);
• General and administrative expenses between approximately 8.5% and 8.7% of total revenue (previously 8.2% to 8.5%), including the expense side of the other franchise revenue that will now be reported on a gross basis;
• Effective tax rate of approximately 26.0% to 27.0% (previously 26.5% to 27.5%);
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share of approximately $0.53 to $0.56 (previously $0.59 to $0.63);
• Adjusted EBITDA between $70.5 million and $71.5 million (previously $71.5 to $74.0 million);
• 25 to 28 new system-wide restaurant openings; and
• Net capital expenditures between $39.0 million to $42.0 million (previously $35.0 million to $38.0 million).

We have not reconciled guidance for Adjusted diluted earnings per share and Adjusted EBITDA to the corresponding GAAP financial measure because we do not provide guidance for the various reconciling items. We are unable to provide guidance for these reconciling items because we cannot determine their probable significance, as certain items are outside of our control and cannot be reasonably predicted since these items could vary significantly from period to period. Accordingly, a reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP financial measure is not available without unreasonable effort.

Key Financial Definitions

Comparable restaurant sales growth reflects the change in year-over-year sales for the comparable company, franchise and total system restaurant base. Restaurants are included in the comparable store base in the accounting period following its 18^th full month of operations and excludes restaurant closures.

Restaurant contribution* is defined as company restaurant sales less restaurant operating expenses, which are food and paper costs, labor and related expenses and occupancy and other operating expenses. Restaurant contribution margin is defined as restaurant contribution as a percentage of company restaurant sales. Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin are neither required by, nor presented in accordance with, GAAP. Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin are supplemental measures of operating performance of restaurants and the calculations thereof may not be comparable to those reported by other companies. Restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin have limitations as analytical tools, and you should not consider them in isolation or as substitutes for analysis of results as reported under U.S. GAAP. Management believes that restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin are important tools for investors because they are widely-used metrics within the restaurant industry to evaluate restaurant-level productivity, efficiency and performance. Management uses restaurant contribution and restaurant contribution margin as key performance indicators to evaluate the profitability of incremental sales at Del Taco restaurants, to evaluate restaurant performance across periods and to evaluate restaurant financial performance compared with competitors.

Adjusted EBITDA* is defined as net income/loss prior to interest expense, income taxes, and depreciation and amortization, as adjusted to add back certain charges, such as stock-based compensation expense and transaction-related costs, as these expenses are not considered an indicator of ongoing company performance. Adjusted EBITDA is a non-GAAP financial measure and should not be considered as an alternative to operating income or net income/loss as a measure of operating performance or cash flows or as measures of liquidity. Non-GAAP financial measures are not necessarily calculated the same way by different companies and should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results. We believe Adjusted EBITDA facilitates operating performance comparisons from period to period by isolating the effects of some items that vary from period to period without any correlation to core operating performance or that vary widely among similar companies. These potential differences may be caused by variations in capital structures (affecting interest expense), tax positions (such as the impact on periods or changes in effective tax rates or net operating losses) and the age and book depreciation of facilities and equipment (affecting relative depreciation expense). We also present Adjusted EBITDA because (i) we believe this measure is frequently used by securities analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in our industry and (ii) we use Adjusted EBITDA internally as a benchmark to compare performance to that of competitors.

Adjusted net income* represents company net income before impairment of long-lived assets, restaurant closure charges, and other income related to the write-off of unfavorable lease liabilities, net of tax. Adjusted diluted net income per share represents company diluted net income per share before impairment of long-lived assets, restaurant closure charges, and other income related to the write-off of unfavorable lease liabilities, net of tax.