Del Frisco’s Restaurant Group Inc. reported sales choppiness in the third quarter ended Sept. 6, the company said Friday.
The Southlake, Texas-based company reported net income of $786,000, or 3 cents per share, compared with a loss of $1 million, or 4 cents per share, the previous year. Revenue increased 4 percent, to $71.4 million, from $68.6 million the previous year.
Third-quarter same-store sales declined 3.7 percent at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House, 1.4 percent at Del Frisco’s Grille and 3.2 percent at Sullivan’s Steakhouse, the company said.
"Sales choppiness during our seasonally weak third quarter yielded results that fell short of our expectations and have caused us to revise our annual guidance,” Mark Mednansky, Del Frisco’s CEO, said in a statement.
Del Frisco’s expects total same-store sales in the fourth quarter to fall 0.5 percent to 1 percent.
“In addition to continued weakness at our locations most impacted by the continued downturn in the energy sector, we saw weakness at several East Coast locations from reduced tourism spending, specifically from the fallout over the British pound devaluation,” Mednansky said.
In the third quarter, Del Frisco’s reported a 3.1-percent increase in average check and a 6.8-percent decline in customer counts at its Double Eagle chain, a 0.4-percent increase in average check and a 3.6-percent decline in customer counts at its Sullivan’s Steakhouse brand, and a 0.3-increase in average check and a 1.7-percent decline in customer counts at its Del Frisco’s Grille chain.
“We were pleased to see an improving trend at Del Frisco’s Grille that resulted in positive comparative-restaurant sales late in the quarter, and we are encouraged by early momentum in the fourth quarter as both Del Frisco’s Double Eagle and the Grille have generated positive comparable-restaurant sales through the first five weeks of this important 16-week period,” Mednansky said.
In the third quarter, the company opened a Del Frisco’s Grille restaurant in Huntington, N.Y.
Del Frisco's Restaurant Group has 51 restaurants in 23 states and Washington, D.C.
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