Greenwood Village / CO. (rrgb) Red Robin Gourmet Burgers Inc., a full-service restaurant chain serving an innovative selection of high-quality gourmet burgers in a family-friendly atmosphere, announced preliminary, unaudited revenue results for the fourth quarter ended December 29, 2019.
The Company will present at the 22nd Annual ICR Investor Conference at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes tomorrow morning, January 14, 2020, at 9:30 AM Eastern Time and has posted a copy of its investor presentation to its Investor Relations website that will accompany the webcast of this presentation.
Preliminary Q4/2019 Revenue Summary Compared to Q4/2018
- Comparable restaurant revenue increased 1.3 percent;
- Comparable restaurant guest counts decreased 3.4 percent;
- Off-premise sales, including catering, increased 26.9 percent and comprised 13.9 percent of total food and beverage sales, including catering; and
- Total revenues were USD 302.9 million, a decrease of 1.2 percent, primarily due to restaurant closures, partially offset by the increase in comparable restaurant revenue.
The above results are preliminary and subject to year-end closing adjustments.
Paul J.B. Murphy III, Red Robin’s President and Chief Executive Officer, said, «We are pleased to have achieved comparable restaurant revenue growth during the fourth quarter of 2019, our second quarter of consecutive positive comparable restaurant revenue. We attribute these results to our menu and promotional strategy of featuring innovative burgers and highlighting core brand equities, while offering a great guest experience at a compelling value. Notably, during the fourth quarter of 2019, we had to lap significant discounting from the prior year quarter which negatively impacted guest traffic but positively impacted average guest check and gross margin. While our financials are not yet finalized, we believe Adjusted EBITDA will be between USD 100 million and USD 102 million for full year 2019.»
Murphy added, «We look forward to sharing our vision for hastening Red Robin’s turnaround and transforming the business at the ICR Conference. Building upon what has already been accomplished in 2019, a year of foundational change, we intend to deliver consistent, quality execution of our brand promise; reinforce emotional connections and core brand equities via our omni-channel messaging campaign; and accelerate profitable growth through menu rationalization, technological investments, and significant expansion of our off-premise platforms.»
Murphy concluded, «This year, we believe that we can achieve low single digit comparable restaurant revenue growth with incremental restaurant-level operating profit offset by pre-opening, marketing and project-related expenses associated with growth initiatives, resulting in restaurant-level margin expansion and flat to slightly positive Adjusted EBITDA compared to 2019. We also anticipate that we can generate USD 35+ million in free cash flow, reduce debt, and return capital to shareholders. Beginning in 2021, and with our foundation firmly in place, we project mid-single digit comparable restaurant revenue growth, margin expansion, Adjusted Ebitda growth of 10 percent-15 percent, USD 45+ million in free cash flow, along with a further reduction in debt and additional return of capital to shareholders.»
