California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. (Nasdaq:CPKI) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2010 ending January 2, 2011.
Highlights for the 13-week fourth quarter of 2010 relative to the 14-week fourth quarter of 2009 were as follows:
- Total revenues decreased 5.9% to $157.9 million. Total revenues increased 3.2% excluding the additional week of fourth quarter 2009 restaurant sales.
- Full-service comparable restaurant sales decreased 1.1% including an estimated 1.4% negative impact due to unfavorable weather conditions and the holiday shift.
- Non-GAAP net income of $4.1 million, or $0.17 per diluted share, excluding the effects of litigation and settlement costs, expenses related to the review of strategic alternatives, store closure costs, and the related tax benefits (please refer to the reconciliation table).
- Net income of $0.4 million or $0.02 per diluted share.
Highlights for the 52-week fiscal year 2010 relative to the 53-week fiscal year 2009 were as follows:
- Total revenues decreased 3.4% to $642.2 million. Total revenues decreased 1.2% excluding the additional week in the fourth quarter of 2009 .
- Full-service comparable restaurant sales decreased 2.4%.
- Non-GAAP net income of $17.1 million, or $0.69 per diluted share, excluding the effects of the non-cash impairment write-down of 10 full-service restaurants, litigation and proposed settlement costs, expenses related to the review of strategic alternatives, store closure costs and the related tax benefits (please refer to the reconciliation table).
- Net loss of $0.4 million, or negative $0.02 per diluted share.
Rick Rosenfield and Larry Flax, co-CEOs of California Pizza Kitchen, stated, “We were pleased to deliver fourth quarter earnings that exceeded our previous guidance and that our comparable restaurant sales, absent the inclement weather and holiday shift, were positive. Strong labor management also helped us achieve lower costs as a percentage of restaurant sales.”
Rosenfield and Flax continued, “In 2011, we are strategically focused on enhancing our brand and evolving our menu to drive traffic and further differentiate California Pizza Kitchen from its casual dining competitors. As part of that effort, we are also targeting margin improvement by streamlining our menu and implementing a series of productivity initiatives. As always, our overriding goal in managing our strong, debt free balance sheet is to increase our return on assets, bolster cash flow and maximize system-wide performance. We believe this will lead to long term and sustainable growth in shareholder value.”
Average weekly sales for the Company’s 200 full-service restaurants were $57,687 in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to $57,949 in the same quarter last year.
During the fourth quarter of 2010, the Company opened full-service restaurants in Bridgewater, NJ; Pittsburgh, PA; Tucson, AZ; and Shanghai, China. International franchise partners opened a full-service restaurant in Mexico City, Mexico, the Company’s ninth location in the country, and a third full-service restaurant in Dubai, UAE.
The Company also outlined financial guidance for the first quarter of 2011 based on the following estimates and assumptions:
- Full-service comparable restaurant sales between negative 1.0% and negative 2.0% (includes the effects of 172 weather related/store closure days in January 2011 versus only 64 such days in January 2010).
- Opening one Company-owned full-service restaurant.
- Opening two international franchised restaurants.
- Earnings in the range of $0.03 to $0.05 per diluted share.
The Company will host a conference call today at approximately 4:30 pm ET. A webcast of the conference call can be accessed at www.cpk.com.
California Pizza Kitchen, Inc., founded in 1985, is a leading casual dining chain featuring an imaginative line of hearth-baked pizzas, including the original BBQ Chicken Pizza, and a broad selection of distinctive pastas, salads, appetizers, soups, sandwiches and desserts. Of the chain’s 265 restaurants, 207 are company-owned and 58 operate under franchise or license agreements. There are currently 33 restaurants located internationally in China, Japan, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Mexico, South Korea, Guam, India, Indonesia and United Arab Emirates. CPK premium pizzas are also available to sports and entertainment fans at three Southern California venues including Dodger Stadium, Angel Stadium of Anaheim and STAPLES Center. Also included in the Company’s portfolio of concepts is LA Food Show Grill & Bar, which has locations in Manhattan Beach and Beverly Hills, California. The Company also has a licensing arrangement with Nestle S.A. to manufacture and distribute a line of California Pizza Kitchen premium frozen products. For more details, visit www.cpk.com.