Same-Store Sales Flat at BJ's Restaurants
BJ's Restaurants, Inc. reports financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year of 2008.
-- Chain Leader, 2/13/2009 8:15:00 AM
HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BJ's Restaurants, Inc. (NASDAQ: BJRI) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2008 that ended on Tuesday, December 30, 2008.
Compared to the same quarter of the prior year, total revenues for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 increased approximately 16.5% to $99.3 million. Comparable restaurant sales decreased by 0.7% during the fourth quarter compared to an increase of 4.9% for the same quarter last year. Net income and diluted net income per share for the fourth quarter were $2.3 million and $0.08, respectively. As previously announced in our press release on January 8, 2009, fourth quarter results include $2.1 million of pre-tax charges related to accrued compensation and related benefits from the December 2008 departure of the Company's two co-founders and estimated costs to settle two California employment practices lawsuits that have been outstanding since 2004 and 2005. The Company also incurred a pre-tax charge of approximately $0.5 million related to asset disposals in connection with selected restaurant facility image enhancements and upgrades. As a result of these aforementioned charges, the Company realized a net tax benefit in the fourth quarter of $0.4 million, or $0.01 of diluted net income per share. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the $2.6 million of pre-tax charges and their related tax effect, the Company estimates its annual effective tax rate would have been 24.6%, resulting in non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per diluted share of $3.4 million and $0.13, respectively. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures is included in the accompanying financial data.
Compared to fiscal 2007, total revenues for fiscal 2008 increased approximately 18.3% to $374.1 million. Comparable restaurant sales decreased only 0.3% during the fiscal year. Net income and diluted net income per share for fiscal 2008 were $10.3 million and $0.39, respectively. In addition to the $2.6 million of fourth quarter pretax charges noted above, there were other pre-tax charges totaling approximately $0.8 million related to hurricane losses and asset disposals recorded in earlier quarters during fiscal 2008. These charges resulted in reducing the Company's effective tax rate for fiscal 2008 to approximately 21.0%. On a non-GAAP basis, excluding the $3.4 million of pre-tax charges and their related tax effect, the Company estimates its effective tax rate would have been 24.6%, resulting in non-GAAP net income and non-GAAP net income per diluted share of $12.4 million and $0.47, respectively. A reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures is included in the accompanying financial data.
"We were pleased with our overall financial performance during the fourth quarter and full year of 2008 in light of the unprecedented volatility of the overall operating environment for most consumer businesses," commented Jerry Deitchle, Chairman and CEO. "We are particularly proud of our comparable sales performance when compared to most of our casual dining peers. Our comparable restaurant sales decreased by only 0.7% during the fourth quarter, compared to an estimated decrease of approximately 6.3% in the Knapp-Track(tm) benchmark for casual dining comparable restaurant sales for the quarter. The entire BJ's team has worked very hard to successfully implement and execute several sales-building initiatives during the fourth quarter and full year of 2008 that principally involved the introduction of new products and services for our guests. We expect that 2009 will be another difficult year for the casual dining segment in terms of overall guest traffic. Accordingly, we have additional sales-building initiatives planned for 2009 implementation. We also believe that BJ's continues to benefit from its 'casual-plus' competitive positioning combined with its 'mass market casual dining' average guest check in the $12 range. We intend to continue playing to the strengths of our competitive positioning as we move forward with the execution of our national expansion plan, with the goal to continue building our market share in the estimated $90 billion casual dining segment over time."
The Company opened three new restaurants during the fourth quarter of 2008 (Tacoma, WA; Newark, CA; and Chula Vista, CA). As previously announced, the Company currently expects to open 9 to 11 new restaurants during 2009. Two new restaurants are currently planned for first quarter openings (Henderson, NV and Gainesville, FL). As of this date, there are no new openings planned for the second quarter; as many as four to five new restaurants planned for the third quarter; and as many as three to four new restaurants planned for the fourth quarter. Coupled with the carryover impact of our partial-year 2008 new restaurant openings, the Company's total restaurant operating weeks during 2009 are currently expected to increase approximately 15% to 16%. The actual number and timing of new restaurant openings is subject to a number of factors outside of the Company's control, including weather conditions and factors under the control of landlords, contractors and regulatory/licensing authorities, as well as credit market conditions and the availability of capital to finance our expansion. "We are continuing to focus our new restaurant development in AAA-quality locations in mature, densely populated trade areas with solid co-tenancies in the retail projects that we select," said Deitchle. "We are fortunate that BJ's has become a preferred tenant with many of the major retail project developers and operators in the country, thus increasing the overall number and quality of potential locations available for our new restaurant development over the longer run."
Investor Conference Call and Webcast
BJ's Restaurants, Inc. will conduct a conference call on its fourth quarter earnings release today, February 12, 2009, at 5:00 p.m. (Eastern Time). The Company will provide an Internet simulcast of the conference call. To listen to the conference call, please visit the "Investors" page of the Company's website located at http://www.bjsrestaurants.com several minutes prior to the start of the call to register and download any necessary audio software. An archive of the presentation will be available for 30 days following the call.
BJ's Restaurants, Inc. currently owns and operates 82 casual dining restaurants under the BJ's Restaurant & Brewery, BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse or BJ's Pizza & Grill brand names. BJ's restaurants offer an innovative and broad menu featuring award-winning, signature deep-dish pizza complemented with generously portioned salads, appetizers, sandwiches, soups, pastas, entrées and desserts. Quality, flavor, value, moderate prices and sincere service remain distinct attributes of the BJ's experience. The Company operates several microbreweries which produce and distribute BJ's critically acclaimed handcrafted beers throughout the chain. The Company's restaurants are located in California (44), Texas (13), Arizona (5), Colorado (3), Oregon (2), Nevada (2), Florida (4), Ohio (2), Oklahoma (2), Kentucky (1), Indiana (1), Louisiana (1) and Washington (2). The Company also has a licensing interest in a BJ's restaurant in Lahaina, Maui. Visit BJ's Restaurants, Inc. on the Web at http://www.bjsrestaurants.com.
Certain statements in the preceding paragraphs and all other statements that are not purely historical constitute "forward-looking statements" for purposes of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbors created thereby. Such statements include, but are not limited to, those regarding expected comparable restaurant sales growth in future periods, those regarding the effect of new sales-building initiatives, as well as those regarding the number of restaurants expected to be opened in future periods and the timing and location of such openings. These "forward-looking" statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results to be materially different from those projected or anticipated. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: (i) the effect of recent credit and equity market disruptions on our ability to finance our continued expansion on acceptable terms, (ii) our ability to manage an increasing number of new restaurant openings, (iii) construction delays, (iv) labor shortages, (v) minimum wage increases, (vi) food quality and health concerns, (vii) factors that impact California, where 44 of our current 82 restaurants are located, (viii) restaurant and brewery industry competition, (ix) impact of certain brewery business considerations, including without limitation, dependence upon suppliers and related hazards, (x) consumer spending trends in general for casual dining occasions, (xi) potential uninsured losses and liabilities, (xii) fluctuating commodity costs and availability of food in general and certain raw materials related to the brewing of our handcrafted beers and energy, (xiii) trademark and servicemark risks, (xiv) government regulations, (xv) licensing costs, (xvi) beer and liquor regulations, (xvii) loss of key personnel, (xviii) inability to secure acceptable sites, (xix) limitations on insurance coverage, (xx) legal proceedings, (xxi) other general economic and regulatory conditions and requirements, (xxii) the success of our key sales-building and related operational initiatives and (xxiii) numerous other matters discussed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. BJ's Restaurants, Inc. undertakes no obligation to update or alter its "forward-looking" statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Further information concerning the Company's results of operations for the fourth quarter 2008 will be provided in the Company's Form 10-K filing, to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by March 14, 2009.
