The chain now has 172 restaurants in 24 countries and one US territory, said Douglas H. Brooks, chairman and CEO. During the last quarter, Brinker opened the first six of a planned 50 Chili's Grill & Bar and Maggiano's Little Italy restaurants in Mexico through a joint venture with CMR, SAB de CV. That joint venture could eventually open up to 100 units.
"We continue to strengthen our presence in growing markets overseas. The expanding middle class and faster-growing economies have made international expansion an ongoing strategic focus," Brooks said.
Meanwhile, it will limit opening domestic company-owned units in favor of franchise expansion. The chain will open 75 restaurants in fiscal 2008, and between 40 and 45 new units in 2009, down from 70 to 80 originally projected. Plans for 2010 could be even slower.
"We anticipate we will continue at these lower levels until there is a significant improvement in consumer demand," said Charles M. Sonsteby, executive vp and CFO. "We believe it's best to focus on our existing operations rather than domestic company-owned growth."
The company also is continuing its shift toward increasing the percentage of franchisee-owned units. The sale of 75 Chili's units to a franchisee during the quarter helped Brinker achieve a ratio of 70% company-owned/30% franchisee by the end of calendar 2007, down from 80%/20%. Plans call for the franchisee portion to increase to 35% by the end of the fiscal year. Negotiations are continuing to sell Romano's Macaroni Grill, now expected to place in the next fiscal year, which begins in July.
For the quarter, revenues from continuing operations for the 13-week period were $868.2 million, down 3.5% from the same period last year. Comp-restaurant sales declined 2.1%. Net income was $54.5 million, up from $44.2 million the previous year.
At quarter end, Brinker International owned, operated, or franchised 1,872 restaurants under the names Chili's Grill & Bar, Romano's Macaroni Grill, On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina (167 units), and Maggiano's Little Italy (41 units).
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.
Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
*May exclude premium content© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
