Bob Evans sales, earnings up in 4Q, year
Business First of Columbus
Bob Evans Farms Inc. on Tuesday told investors it finished its fourth quarter and fiscal 2008 with top- and bottom-line gains, despite increased food costs and struggling sales at its Mimi's Cafe chain.
The Columbus restaurant chain reported earnings for the quarter ended April 25 of $16.1 million, or 52 cents a share, up 5 percent from $15.3 million, or 42 cents a share, a year earlier.
Sales rose 4 percent to $436.4 million from $418.4 million in last year's fourth quarter. The gain accounted for a 1.7 percent increase in sales at flagship restaurants open at least two years and a 5.3 percent decline in same-restaurant sales at the company's upscale Mimi's Cafe chain.
The fourth-quarter profit gain brought full-year earnings up 7 percent at $64.9 million, or $1.95 a share, versus $60.5 million, or $1.66 a share, in 2007. The latest year's total included a gain of $6.6 million in the third quarter for the recognition of unredeemed gift card balances and a $2.9 million gain on the sale of some real estate.
Bob Evans (NASDAQ:BOBE) in the third quarter was hit with a $3.7 million charge after closing nine underperforming flagship restaurants and a $700,000 charge related to the settlement of a dispute.
Revenue for the year increased 5 percent to $1.74 billion from $1.65 billion in 2007 as Bob Evans' flagship restaurants experienced a 1.8 percent same-store sales boost. Mimi's Cafe posted a 2.4 percent decline for the year.
CEO Steven Davis said the decline at Mimi's Cafe was driven by flagging economic conditions in California, Florida, Arizona and Nevada, where most of its restaurants operate. Bob Evans runs 571 flagship restaurants in 18 states and 132 Mimi's Cafes in 22 states.
Another top-line pressure last year came from an increase in the cost of sales, which accounted for 29.8 percent of revenue last year, up from 29.2 percent in 2007. Overhead also outpaced sales growth, increasing 8 percent over the year.
Bob Evans Farms expects fiscal 2009 share earnings to come in at $2 and $2.10, which would translate into an increase of 3 percent to 8 percent.
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