Darden's September Sales at Olive Garden, Red Lobster Up but Stock is Down

ORLANDO-Darden Restaurants Inc., a locally based, 1,216-unit casual seafood chain with an estimated worldwide real estate portfolio of 35 million sf, is reporting sales increases at its Olive Garden and Red Lobster divisions for September, despite a dip in its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange today.

Darden is Orlando’s only Fortune 500 company. At its annual shareholders meeting Sept. 18, Darden chairman Joe R. Lee told shareholders the company plans to open one million sf of new restaurants in fiscal 2003.

In a prepared statement yesterday, the company says sales at restaurants open at least a year were up about 6% at Olive Garden and showed no more than a 1% increase at Red Lobster. September sales last year at Olive Garden were up about 4%; at Red Lobster, up about 5%.