News

Panera announces Q3 profits

October 25, 2011

Panera Bread Company released its earnings report Tuesday, boasting a net income of $29 million, or $0.97 per diluted share, for the fiscal third quarter ended Sept. 27.

The third quarter of fiscal 2011 results compare to a net income of $23 million, or $0.75 perdiluted share, for the fiscal third quarter ended Sept. 28, 2010, and represent a 29 percent year- over-year increase in diluted earnings per share.

For the 39 weeks ended Sept. 27, net income was $97 million, or $3.24 per diluted share. These results compare to net income of $75 million, or $2.42 per diluted share, for the same period last year.

"We are very pleased with both our strong 6.0 percent comparable store sales growth and our 29 percent earnings growth in the third quarter. We have now been able to grow our earnings per share at a rate of 20 percent-plus for 13 out of the last 14 quarters," said Bill Moreton, CEO. "We continue to believe that our consistent performance has been driven by the investments that we have made in the quality of our food, people and customer experience to drive competitive differentiation."

Highlights include:

• Revenue increased 22 percent to $453 million.
• Company-owned comparable net bakery-cafe sales up 6 percent.
• New unit development target increased to 110 to 115 units.
• EPS target increased to $4.63 to $4.65 (up 28 percent versus FY 2010).
• Initial FY 2012 EPS target set at $5.38 to $5.48 up 16 to 18 percent versus FY 2011.

Fourth Quarter outlook

For the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011, the company is targeting earnings per diluted share of $1.39 to $1.41 versus $1.21 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010. If the company meets this target, diluted earnings per share will grow 15 to 17 percent in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2011 versus the comparable period in fiscal 2010.

"We have also been able to deploy a meaningful amount of our excess cash to drive earnings growth and shareholder returns through high ROI acquisitions and share repurchases," Moreton said. "We look forward to another strong year in 2012 with our earnings target falling within our long-term target range of 15-20 percent annual earnings growth."

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