LAKEWOOD, Colo. — Einstein Noah Restaurant Group Inc. announced strong results for the fourth quarter and year ended Jan. 1, 2008.
Comparable-store sales grew by 3.2 percent in the fourth quarter, the 13th consecutive quarter of sales growth in company-owned restaurants.
Fourth-quarter revenue from company-owned restaurants increased 4.7 percent to $96.7 million, up from $92.4 million reported for the same quarter last year. The 2007 figure includes $1.3 million of gift-card breakage.
Reported net income was $6.8 million, up 12.4 percent from $6 million reported for the same quarter last year.
The company opened seven new company-owned restaurants in the quarter, six of which were opened in December. In addition, the company completed the planned closure of four underperforming company-owned restaurants.
For fiscal year 2007
For the year, Einstein Noah reported a comps increase of 3.7 percent and achieved a 3.3-percent increase in revenues, up from $390 million in fiscal year '06 to $402.9 million in fiscal year '07.
The company posted a net income of $12.6 million for the year, compared with a net loss of $6.9 million for the year ended Jan. 2, 2007.
During the year, the company closed 13 underperforming company-owned restaurants and opened 12 new company-owned locations. The number of restaurant locations has increased to 612, compared with 598 at the end of 2006.
