Buffalo Wild Wings Inc., the Minneapolis-based operator or franchisor of 740 casual-dining restaurants, said new-unit growth offset slightly negative same-store sales, to drive fourth-quarter and 2010 earnings.
For the Dec. 26-ended fourth quarter, Buffalo Wild Wings booked net income of $10.2 million, or 55 cents per share, a 22-percent increase from earnings of $8.3 million, or 46 cents per share, in the same quarter a year earlier.
Revenue for the fourth quarter rose 13.1 percent to $163.9 million, reflecting the opening of 31 new units. Same-store sales decreased 0.3 percent at corporate restaurants and 1.1 percent at franchised locations.
Chief executive Sally Smith offered an optimistic outlook for 2011 and said the brand was off to a fast start.
“We’re just coming off the excitement of Super Bowl Sunday, and our same-store sales for the first six weeks of 2011 are strong at 3.8 percent in company-owned and 1.5 percent at franchised locations,” Smith said in a statement. “As sports fans turn their focus to basketball, we’ll increase our media presence with attention-getting programming that supports our ‘Home Court Advantage’ campaign.”
She said 2011 would be another year of unit development at Buffalo Wild Wings.
“We expect to open more than 100 new restaurants, including our first units in Canada,” Smith said, “and reach our goal of 13-percent unit growth for the year. With our strategic emphasis on the core elements that have built our success — wings, beer and sports — and our proven track record of results, we are confident in our ability to achieve our net-earnings goal of over 18-percent growth for 2011.”
Net income for the 52 weeks in 2010 totaled $38.4 million, compared with earnings of $30.7 million for fiscal 2009. Revenue increased 13.8 percent to $613.3 million. Same-store sales increased 0.6 percent at corporate restaurants, but decreased 0.2 percent at franchised units for the full year. Buffalo Wild Wings opened a total of 80 restaurants in fiscal 2010.
Contact Mark Brandau at [email protected].