The company, which operates nearly 100 Ruth's Chris Steak House restaurants, including 10 franchised restaurants in Mexico, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Canada, said sales at company-owned restaurants, excluding franchises, grew to $55.5 million during the quarter, an increase of $12.3 million over the $43.2 million earned during the third quarter of 2005. Comparable restaurant sales were also up by 4.3% for the period.
The acquisition of five franchised restaurants and the opening of a sixth franchise location helped bolster the quarter's sales results, the company said. Ruth's Chris also plans to close on two more franchise operations, and possibly a third, during the fourth quarter.
Despite those strong quarterly sales numbers, Craig Miller, Ruth's Chris chief executive officer said in a statement that while company officials remain comfortable with previously issued annual sales growth and operating outlooks, higher than expected beef costs "will negatively affect profitability for the period."
The company, which plans to release its third-quarter earnings and 2007 annual guidance in early November, reiterated previous expectations calling for an increase in comparable restaurant sales of between 5.5% to 6.5% and said diluted earnings per share will be between 89 cents and 93 cents.
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