Calabas Hills / CA. (cf) The Cheesecake Factory Inc. reported financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2015, which ended on June 30, 2015. Total revenues were 529.1 million USD in the second quarter of fiscal 2015 as compared to 496.4 million USD in the prior year second quarter. Net income and diluted net income per share were 34.7 million USD and 0.69 USD, respectively, in the second quarter of fiscal 2015.
Operating Results
Comparable restaurant sales at The Cheesecake Factory restaurants increased 2.8 percent in the second quarter of fiscal 2015.
«We delivered high quality results in the second quarter driven by a strong comparable sales increase at The Cheesecake Factory, marking our 22nd consecutive quarter of comparable sales gains and another in which we outperformed the industry by a solid margin», said David Overton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.
«Our business is performing well across multiple dimensions. We are operating our restaurants effectively, improving in key areas such as food efficiency, and maintaining our high guest satisfaction scores. In addition, favorability in the cost areas that heavily impacted us last year contributed to significant margin expansion and growth in earnings per share. We are well positioned as we enter the second half of the year, with our newer restaurants performing well and our core business on solid ground», continued Overton.
Development
The Company opened two The Cheesecake Factory restaurants and one Grand Lux Cafe restaurant during the second quarter of fiscal 2015. The Company continues to expect it will open as many as eleven Company-owned restaurants domestically in fiscal 2015.
Internationally, the Company anticipates no change to as many as three planned restaurant openings in the Middle East and Mexico under licensing agreements in fiscal 2015, one of which opened earlier in the year in Mexico City.
Capital Allocation
The Company’s Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of 0.20 USD per share on the Company’s common stock, which equates to a 21 percent increase in the Company’s quarterly dividend. The dividend is payable on August 18, 2015 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 5, 2015.
During the second quarter of fiscal 2015, the Company repurchased 77’340 shares of its common stock at a cost of 3.8 million USD. Year-to-date, the Company repurchased 1.7 million shares of its common stock at a cost of 84.2 million USD. The Company continues to expect that it will return its free cash flow to shareholders in fiscal 2015 in the form of dividends and share repurchases.
«Based on the confidence that we have in the strength of our Company, our prospects for continued global growth, and the significant level of cash that our business generates, we took another meaningful step forward with our dividend and in our ongoing commitment to increase total shareholder return», concluded Overton.
