News

Chipotle fourth-quarter revenues jump 36%

March 13, 2006

DENVER—Chipotle Mexican Grill, in its first public financial report, turned in a fourth-quarter profit to reverse last year's loss. The fast-casual chain said total revenues jumped 36 percent to $173.3 million while comp sales rose 14 percent. The company said fourth-quarter net income was $4.3 million compared to last year's loss of $3.7 million .

For full-year 2005, revenues increased 33.3 percent to $627.7 million from $470.7 million in 2004. The company contributed the growth to a 10.2-percent increase in comps and an increase in revenues from restaurants not yet in the comparable base. Chipotle opened 80 company-owned restaurants in 2005, representing a 20 percent increase in Chipotle's 2004 ending restaurant base.

Net income for 2005 was $37.7 million compared to $6.1 million in 2004. According to the regulatory filing, the comparability between periods was affected by the 2005 reversal of the company's tax valuation allowance attributable to the company's net operating loss carry forwards. The reversal resulted in a one-time, non cash income tax benefit of $20.3 million.

"Full year 2005 was a successful year for Chipotle by virtually any measure," commented Jack Hartung, chief financial and development officer. "New restaurants opened at increasingly higher volumes with comparable restaurant sales surpassing 10 percent for the eighth consecutive year. In addition, our restaurant-level margins continued to improve over 2004. For the remainder of 2006, we'll look to maintain our momentum with existing restaurants and continue to pursue great restaurant locations in both new and existing markets."