Editor's Note: An earlier story included the earnings results for The Cheesecake Factory Inc.’s first quarter. Following is a corrected version for the second quarter of fiscal 2011.
Sales and traffic trends continued to improve at The Cheesecake Factory restaurants in the second quarter despite higher food costs, the company said Wednesday.
For the quarter ended June 28, The Cheesecake Factory Inc. reported a nearly 29-percent increase in net income of $24.7 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with $19.2 million, or 32 cents per share, for the same quarter a year ago.
Revenues were up 3 percent to $430.7 million on a systemwide same-store sales increase of 2.1 percent.
David Overton, The Cheesecake Factory’s chair and chief executive, said same-store sales for the chain’s namesake brand increased 2.3 percent, but were flat for sister brand Grand Lux Café.
“We continue to demonstrate a best-in-class competitive position with our sixth consecutive quarter of positive comparable sales and increases in guest traffic,” Overton said in a statement.
“We experience higher sales in every daypart, with solid gains in the ‘shoulder periods,’ consistent with our performance last quarter,” he added. “Our average ticket progressed nicely again this quarter as well, with menu mix showing further improvement, as expected.”
Overton said the company has been managing expenses well, which has helped offset high food-cost inflation.
“Our operators are doing an outstanding job of running our restaurants efficiently and productively,” he said. “We are on-track to deliver mid-teens earnings-per-share growth this year, which is in-line with our longer-term objectives.”
Expecting continued healthy cash flow, the company increased its share repurchase target for the year to between $125 million and $150 million. The previous target was $100 million.
During the quarter, The Cheesecake Factory repurchased 1.5 million shares of common stock for about $44.4 million. Year-to-date, stock repurchases have totaled 3.2 million at a cost of about $95 million.
The company is scheduled to open seven new restaurants in fiscal 2011, including, most recently, a Cheesecake Factory in Short Hills, N.J.
At the end of the quarter, the Calabasas Hills, Calif.-based company operated 165 restaurants, including 151 under The Cheesecake Factory brand, as well as 13 Grand Lux Cafes and one RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen.
Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout
