Darden Restaurants reported quarterly sales of $1.38 billion for the third quarter ended February 27, 2005, and diluted net earnings per share of 56 cents, a 24% increase over the prior year.
“We had an outstanding quarter, with sales and earnings growth that were among the strongest in casual dining,” said Clarence Otis, Chief Executive Officer of Darden. “These results reflect the tremendous efforts of the talented and committed teams in our restaurants and in our restaurant support center. People at Darden are passionate about nourishing and delighting everyone we serve, and about fully capturing the exciting opportunity we have in casual dining. We’ll achieve these goals by combining brand excellence with competitively superior in-restaurant operations and restaurant support. This quarter, all of our business units made good progress in each of these critically important areas.”
Net earnings in the third quarter were $92.6 million, or 56 cents per diluted share, on sales of $1.38 billion. Last year, net earnings were $77.1 million, or 45 cents per diluted share, on sales of $1.24 billion.
Total sales of $1.38 billion represent a 10.8% increase over prior year.
Olive Garden reported its 42nd consecutive quarter of U.S. same- restaurant sales growth with a 10.5% increase.
Red Lobster reported U.S. same-restaurant sales growth of 5.1% for the quarter.
The Company incurred costs related to the impairment of one Red Lobster and one Olive Garden restaurant which reduced diluted net earnings per share by approximately one cent. However, the Company’s tax rate this quarter was slightly lower compared to last year as a result of the favorable resolution of prior year tax matters and increased tax credits. This benefit added approximately one cent to diluted earnings per share in the quarter.
The Company expects diluted net earnings per share growth for fiscal 2005 in the range of 31% to 33% on a GAAP basis, which is an 19% to 21% increase excluding the asset impairment and restructuring charge ($23.1 million after tax or $0.14 per diluted share) in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2004.
The Company announced that today the Board of Directors declared a cash dividend of 4 cents per share on the Company’s outstanding common stock. The dividend is payable on May 1, 2005 to shareholders of record at the close of business on April 8, 2005.
The Company continued its repurchase of shares, buying back almost 3.7 million shares of its common stock in the quarter.
Murdok | Breaking eBusiness News
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