Richmond Heights / MO. (pbc) Panera Bread Company reported that its first-quarter profit jumped 48 percent as its sales and margins rose. The restaurant company said it earned 25,8 million USD or 0,82 USD per share for the quarter. That is up from 17,4 million USD or 0,57 USD per share a year earlier. Its revenue grew 14 percent to 364,2 million USD, Panera Bread said in a press release. Highlights:
- March 2010 Company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales up 12,7 percent
- April 2010 (27 days to date) Company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales up 10,3 percent
- April 2010 (27 days to date) Franchise-operated comparable bakery-cafe sales up 10,4 percent
- Q1/2010 operating margin up 260 bps over Q1/2009
- Q2/2010 EPS target at 0,81 USD to 0,83 USD (up 25 percent to 28 percent versus Q2/2009)
- FY 2010 EPS target at 3,40 USD to 3,44 USD (up 22 percent to 24 percent versus FY 2009)
Company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 increased 10,0 percent versus the comparable period in fiscal 2009. Company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 9,5 percent, 8,1 percent and 12,7 percent in the fiscal 2010 monthly periods of January, February and March, respectively, versus the comparable periods in fiscal 2009. Franchise-operated comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 9,2 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 versus the comparable period in fiscal 2009 (9,3 percent in January, 6,9 percent in February and 12,1 percent in March). As a result, system-wide comparable bakery-cafe sales increased 9,5 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 versus the comparable period in fiscal 2009 (9,4 percent in January, 7,4 percent in February and 12,4 percent in March). The Company-owned comparable bakery-cafe sales increase of 10,0 percent in the first quarter of fiscal 2010 included the following year-over-year components: transaction growth of 3,5 percent and average check growth of 6,5 percent. Average check growth in turn was comprised of retail price increases of approximately 2,0 percent and mix impact of approximately 4,5 percent.
Operating Margin Improvement
In the first quarter of fiscal 2010, the Company generated operating margin improvement of approximately 260 basis points compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2009, driven primarily by leverage from comparable bakery-cafe sales increases. This is the eighth straight quarter of operating margin expansion of 100 basis points or greater.
New Unit AWS and Development
In the first quarter of fiscal 2010, average weekly sales (AWS) for Company-owned new units was 56’113 USD compared to 41’922 USD in the first quarter of fiscal 2009. During the first quarter of fiscal 2010, the Company and its franchisees opened eight new bakery-cafes system-wide, resulting in 1’388 bakery-cafes open system-wide as of March 30, 2010.
