Rave Restaurant Group Inc. reported a deeper net loss for its third quarter ended March 29, despite strong same-store sales increases for both its Pizza Inn and Pie Five brands.
The Dallas-based company reported a net loss of $570,000, or a loss of 6 cents per share, compared with a loss of $451,000 million, or a loss of 5 cents per share, a year ago.
Adjusting for $0.3 million in impairment charges, the company reported net income of $0.1 million.
Rave CEO Randy Gier said its core Pizza Inn brand is showing a return to stability after a number of challenging years. Same-store sales for the flagship brand rose 6 percent during the quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of positive results.
“Pizza Inn has recorded positive comps in 49 of the last 52 weeks,” Gier said. “This brand is back due to the hard work of our franchisees aligned around a few key initiatives to increase quality, improve service, reduce costs and enable our general managers to run better restaurants.”
The fast-casual Pie Five brand recorded a same-store sales increase of 9.5 percent for the quarter.
“Pie Five continues its Cinderella story,” Gier said. “The concept continues to resonate with consumers as we roll across the country. Our customers are not only coming back, they are coming back more often, spending more and bringing their friends with them.”
Revenue for the quarter increased 9.1 percent, to $11.9 million, compared with $10.9 million a year ago.
Nine Pie Five units opened during the quarter, bringing the total to 40 restaurants. The company signed development agreements to open 34 more units in Arkansas, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland.
Currently, 351 restaurants are under development, and the company expects to end the fiscal year with 60 Pie Five locations.
Rave ended the quarter with 253 Pizza Inn locations.
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